The Pact
by Mangolgo
Summary: A wiser, friendlier Kurama lends his wisdom and powers to help Naruto achieve his dreams.
1. Beginnings

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

 **Chapter 1: Beginnings**

A long time ago, as mankind struggled to master its savage nature, a titanic struggle occurred between three powerful beings.

Twin brothers, imbued with the power of the gods themselves, fought to free the world from the madness and tyranny of their corrupted mother. The battle was terrible to behold, and the world was scarred permanently. Unable to bring themselves to kill the woman who birthed them, the brothers sealed their mother into the moon. One younger brother volunteered to stay on the moon to ensure the seal would remain unbroken. The elder brother returned to Earth to pass on his teachings. The twins understood peace was the result of compromise, understanding, and love. Above all else it was not something that can be dictated to or imposed on their fellow humans. Humanity needed to come to terms with itself in order to reach that ideal and the brothers knew that they would not live to see the fruits of their labor.

Time passed, and mankind multiplied throughout the lands. Though he possessed unimaginable power, the elder brother slowly succumbed to mortality. He foresaw the power struggle which will most assuredly flow in the wake of his passing, and embarked on an audacious plan. Utilizing all of the knowledge at his command, he divided his power into nine separate wells of power and fashioned them after mythical beasts. He commanded them to disperse into the world of man with the promise that they would all meet again one day in an indeterminate future.

Weakened by the effort, the brother's physical body quickly faded and he passed from this world. Without his guidance, jealously and resentment slowly poisoned his descendants and violence followed. In the decades and centuries that followed, the peace that the brothers had fought so hard and sacrificed so much for crumbled and mankind forsook the plowshare for the sword.

Dismayed at the petty strife that tore about nations and families, the tailed beasts followed their creator's bidding and dispersed into the Human world. Some hid themselves in the untouched wilderness of the world and became lost in time. Others settled down in remote locations and were worshiped as deities by superstitious humans. Some were captured and turned into living weapons.

The most powerful one of them all, the nine tails, was the one most dedicated to his creator's dream of peace. He prized knowledge and wisdom above all else as he believed (much like his creator) that peace would only come once everyone understood and accepted each other.

* * *

Kurama opened his eyes and narrowed them. It had been a long time since he had dreamed of the creator and his brothers. Kurama stretched his legs and yawned in the early morning light. For two centuries Kurama divided his time between the human world and the verdant bamboo forest he had come to call home. Kurama ventured out of the forest roughly every ten years or so to personally satisfy his need for contact and observe the progress the descendants had made towards peace.

On his last trip to the human world over a two decade ago, he had posed as a poor youth looking to make ends meet. Kurama staked out a roadside inn located at the outskirts of the forest and did odd jobs for the innkeeper. When a trade caravan paused at the inn to spend the night Kurama persuaded the head merchant to take him on with the caravan in exchange for free labor. For nearly three years, Kurama toured all the major cities and towns in the world of humans. He sampled a thousand different delicacies and made acquaintances with as many humans. At each stop he left proxies of himself, small copies of his essence shaped in his image, who raided the local library stacks for knowledge and lurked in the bars for the latest news and gossip. With a spy network whose loyalty cannot be bought and keeping him regularly informed, Kurama decided it was time to retire.

Though he was amazed at the ingenuity and creativity of humans, he was also equally disappointed. The humans were capable of constructing monolithic structures that touched the skies and build ships capable of staying afloat in the roughest seas, but seemed unable to (worse yet, unwilling to) devote the same volume of effort into uplifting their less fortunate brethren. In nearly every major population center he visited, he saw desperate men, women, and children lurking in the alleyways; a population of dregs that had fallen through the cracks of society and now festered in its shadows. Kurama could feel the slow bubbling of resentment, ready to explode any moment.

The final straw came when Kurama witnessed the corruption of his creator's gifts. When the trading caravan made a stopover in a small village, Kurama had went to fetch water for the pack animals in the nearby stream. A surge of chakra coming from the village caused him to drop the buckets and run back to the village. When he arrived, the bodies of all the villagers and the merchants were roasting in an open pit at the town center. Three bandits stood around the pit, dousing exposed flesh with a crude fire technique created with harnessed chakra.

Kurama lost control then. He had been friends with many members of the traveling caravans and was on a first name basis with the head merchant himself. By the time he had regained controlled over himself, everything within a five kilometer radius of the village center had been turned to ash. A circular disk of broken glass now sat where the bodies were; the chakra fire burning so hotly it melted the ground itself.

Unable to reconcile how far the descendants had strayed from the path of peace as well as ashamed of his loss of control, Kurama retreated into untamed forest, receiving periodic updates from his proxies.

Every so often, a proxy would return and Kurama would drink up the accumulated experiences and knowledge like a wet sponge. Within a span of a few years Kurama accumulated over a thousand years of social human interaction, Kurama grew wise in the ways of humans. He could tell without fail when someone was lying. He was adept at reading people's faces; a twitch of the mouth, a slightly raised eye brow, a quickening of breath all spoke volumes about a human's intentions and motivations.

Kurama mastered and perfected things in a single day that took lifetimes for humans. He could prepare a feast fit for an emperor, balance a nation's budget, or perform the secret Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palm technique of the Hyuga Clan. Nothing could be kept secret from the fox; he learned and learned and learned.

Kurama trotted over to the clearing he was so fond of near the middle of the forest. The field was awash with red, white, and blue flowers dancing in the morning breeze. He found a small patch of grass and laid down before rolling on his back. It should be a while before another proxy returned and a replacement was sent out. He was content, at least for now, to watch the clouds go by.

* * *

A familiar, yet malevolent presence penetrated deep into the forest. Sniffing the air, Kurama scanned the treeline suspiciously as the presence drew closer. Kurama tasted the subtle chakra that drifted towards him. It was so very familiar to him, but yet at the same time, distant. Kurama prepared for violence.

The breeze blowing across the flower field died and the swaying of the grass stopped. A hooded figure completely draped in black stepped out of the forest, walking hurriedly towards him. Kurama stared and briefly contemplated returning to his full size to frighten the trespasser away, but adopted a wait-and-see approach towards the curious stranger. The man stopped ten paces from Kurama, held out his hands to show he was unarmed, and sat down with his legs crossed.

Kurama tilted his head quizzically. Who was this man? Despite his experiences, Kurama felt unsettled. _Wait and see,_ his inner voice urged in spite of the thickening tension.

The stranger's leathery, pale hands reached up from the robes and pulled the hood back. The hood gave way to a man with a pale that looked like he was in his late twenties. He had long, black hair that jutted backwards like jagged spikes. Black eyes accompanied by a small nose and a thin, false smile rounded out the stranger's sharp, angular face.

Kurama did not like the man's false smile. It was the type of smile he had seen in his countless memories. It was a lie, a method to placate a victim of imminent treachery.

"My name is Uchiha Madara," The man stated gravely, "I have come to you, Great Demon, to seek your aid and bring about peace to my village."

 _The Uchiha Clan... one of the direct inheritors of my creator._ Kurama's mind quickly recalled the information from most recent of his proxy. _They recently help form the first shinobi village with the Senju Clan. They are led_ _by Senju Hashirama, the Shodai Hokage, also known as the God of Shinobi._ Kurama was very well informed. _How is it they have already fallen into conflict?_ He asked himself.

Baffled by what was asked of him, Kurama asked, "And how exactly do you want me to aid you?"

Madara responded, "I need your power. I wish to use your power to defeat a man I once called my brother. When Harashima Senju is defeated, I will be the undisputed leader of the village! No one would dare to disturb the peace I bring!"

Kurama shook his head, "I refuse." He said flatly. _So predictable, so pitiful._

Madara lost the false smile he was wearing. His face reddened as shouted, " **WHY? WHY DO YOU REFUSE ME? IS PROMISE OF PEACE NOT A WORTHY CAUSE?!** "

Kurama stood on all fours as he readied himself to depart. This Uchiha was an echo; a reflection of the madness his creator had fought so hard to lock away.

"How can you call what you want peace when you impose your will on people? The peace you seek to create is a byproduct of a world without color and hope. I refuse."

Madara was stunned by this response. Kurama turned and started walking towards the forest depths while Madara muttered something to himself.

"WAIT!" Madara shouted. Kurama looked back at the deranged man as the air grew heavy from massive killing intent.

" **I WILL NOT BE DENIED! SHARINGAN!** " Madara screamed. Kurama stared in fascination as the whites of his Madara's eyes shifted to blood red.

Before he could avert his gaze, a massive wave of unreality hit Kurama. The world around him started to spin and he lost his footing. Kurama stumbled and lay panting in the grass as invisible forces tugged and pulled on his mind.

"What... What? What are you doing to me?" Kurama panted. He saw a shadow of a blurred form standing above his body.

"I will have your power demon, with or without your cooperation." Madara spat and leaned in close, "Your will is mine now." He whispered before breaking into a empty laugh.

"Never..." Kurama whispered defiantly as he felt his consciousness getting heavier, his control weakening.

"That's it Demon, let your true form out!" Madara tossed back his head and laughed.

"No..no..." Kurama felt reason evaporate as his eyes glazed over. Kurama was getting angry. Very angry. He needed to destroy something.

Madara smiled as he watched the demon fox grew to its original size. Raw, burning red chakra radiated off the fur in waves, the very air rippling outwards with heat. Lumps of raw chakra rolled off the body and dripped to the ground ground. The hateful chakra withered the ground it touched and sank hissing into the soil; the small field of flowers now ablaze from the heat wave as the inferno spread outwards.

Frightened birds took to the skies as the demon fox growled loudly. Tossing its head back, the fox roared with a ferocity that shook the ground while its massive tails swung and demolished the forest.

With a single leap Madara landed on the demon's head.

" **THAT WAY BEAST!** " Madara commanded.

The demon sniffed in the direction that Madara pointed to and coiled its muscles. In one giant leap, the demon fox cleared the burning forest and broke into a thundering run towards Konoha.

* * *

Kurama woke up and moaned.

A massive headache hammered at him as he opened his eyes and surveyed his environment. He was in what appeared to be a very large, study cage designed the size of a gigantic warehouse. He stared out the cage and was rewarded with silent darkness. Wherever the cage was located, it was poorly lit. Kurama extended a single paw towards the gap between the bars. Before his paw reached the bars however, a series of small green glowing inscriptions materialized in the air. An invisible barrier rippled into existence just before Kurama's paw reached the inscription.

Kurama frowned and pushed harder. The barrier yielded slightly before before Kurama realized his mistake. The inscriptions, which previously glowed a neon yellow, now started flashing red. Kurama watched in fascination as the small inscription extended all around the cage and crisscrossed the bars. The inscription flashed faster and faster, then completely stopped as liightning discharged inwards. Kurama howled in pain as pure electricity wreathed his body.

His pride wounded, Kurama shrank himself down to human size and approached the bars cautiously. He moved to what appeared to be the cage door, and experimentally placed his pawn on the invisible barrier again. The inscriptions appeared as they did before. Having learned his lesson the first time, Kurama pulled his paw back. The inscriptions stayed green, then vanished after ten seconds of inactivity. Kurama narrowed his eyes and sat on his haunches. He activated the barrier seal with his paw once more, this time examining the symbols closely.

 _A twelve symbol crystal zodiac seal with a six celestial guardian seal overlay._ _The only people talented enough to do this belongs to the Uzumaki Clan from Whirlpool Country._

As if summoned by the very thought of the clan, a young woman materialized quietly in front of the cage door She had red hair tied into buns at opposite sides of her head. Two seals hung loosely off her buns. The woman also wore a small copper crown on top of head and was dressed in a white kimono with a green undershirt.

Kurama stared at her as the young woman bowed.

"My name is Uzumaki Mito, second head of the Uzumaki clan." She continued in a formal voice, "Wife of Senju Hashirama, Shodai Hokage of Konoha."

 _Senju. Ah._ Kurama put two and two together.

"If you truly are of the Uzumaki clan and wife of Hashirama, then it means Uchiha Madara did not achieve the victory he was looking for." Kurama spoke evenly.

Mito straightened and appraised Kurama with a careful eye, "If you do not remember his defeat, then does this mean you were under his control?"

Kurama grimaced and nodded, his pride having taken one too many hits today.

"May I ask how I was defeated?" He inquired.

"My husband is proficient in all five nature transformation as well as Ying and Yang releases," She stated proudly. "But his true strength lies in his ability to combine Earth and Water elements to form the Wood Release. He was able to utilize the wood release to temporarily incapacitate you before killing Madara.

 _Wood release... this explains how the village was built so quickly..._

Kurama was impressed and pleased as simultaneously. Senju Hashirama was someone his creator could be proud of; not because he was talented, but because the Shodai Hokage had taken that tenuous first step towards peace by using chakra to benefit, rather than dominate his fellow man.

 _He is worthy._ Kurama thought to himself.

Kurama bowed his head in submission to a very surprised Mito

"Please convey my thanks to your husband. Not only for freeing me from Madara's control, but for using chakra to benefit mankind."

Mito nodded, then narrowed her eyes.

"I thought you would be angry at your... imprisonment," she waved to the cage as she changed subjects, "But you don't seem to be bothered in the least bit."

Kurama snorted, "I know about five different ways I can break out of this 'prison.' All of which will either drive you insane or kill you outright."

It was true. One of his previous proxies had spent four years at the Uzumaki main clan house.

Mito's face paled. Kurama continued without any hint of malice, "However, since I am indebted to your husband for freeing me, I swear I will not attempt to break the seal that binds me to you. I won't ask you to free me either as the answer is most likely no and there are numerous political and military advantages in letting the world know your village possesses a Jinchuriki. I have three conditions you must meet however."

Mito tensed. The fox was dangerously clever, if not brutally honest and straightforward. "What are your conditions?"

Kurama answered, "The first condition is that you must lend me your senses. I want to observe your kind and see this... peace of your Shodai Hokage. And before you ask, no I'm not a pervert and I'm not going to spy on your... intimacy." Mito blushed. "My second condition is for you to visit me whenever you can spare the time... It has been a very long time since I have met someone I respected," Mito face reddened more, "And lastly... can I get a change of scenery please? I know for a fact you mortals have a good sense of imagination despite the size of your brains."

Mito chuckled at the slight against her kind. "I agree to your conditions. Please wait a second..." Mito closed her eyes.

The darkness gave way to flat dirt stretching as far as the eye can see in all directions. The cage bars retracted into the ground as the bottom of the cage sank beneath the soil. Stars winked into existence as rain fell from the cloudless sky. The dirt darkened as moisture sank into the ground; the smell of water filling Kurama's nose as grass sprouted beneath him. Brow saplings sprouted from the ground and raced towards the sky. The once skinny saplings thickened into tree trunks as branches covered in shot out of the tree trunk. A series of gentle puffs filled the air as green leaves burst outwards out of the once barren trees.

Mito opened her eyes.

Kurama nodded his approval and curled up in the grass. "Thank you, this is much more tolerable."

Mito bowed and shimmered out of existence silently.

* * *

True to her word, Mito visited Kurama every week to go over the latest events in the world, though he already knew most of what had occurred given he had access to Mito's senses. Overly formal at first as befitting her station, Mito relaxed her guard around Kurama over time. Even though their conversations often devolved into a verbal sparring match, neither would admit they enjoyed their little contests.

During one of the earliest conversations Kurama had with Mito, he asked her what the purpose of the shinobi was. Kurama was greatly dismayed when Mito informed him that shinobi existed as an elite mercenary military force, though he was somewhat placated by the fact that most contracts Konoha took were either humanitarian or peacekeeping missions. Every so often there would be an assassination contract, but Kurama was soothed by the fact that almost all of those contracts were for bandit leaders and other unsavory human characters who had made the mistake of angering powerful people one too many times.

Kurama was also greatly surprised to learn that shinobi were _supposed_ to be stealthy; every shinobi he had encountered through Mito's eyes had a propensity for engaging in loud, flashy attacks in broad day light, contrary to the shinobi code Mito had explained to him before. They also shouted, _Shouted_ the names of their attacks! The worst offender to the shinobi code, was predictably, Mito's excitable husband Hashirama. Mito had shrugged off Kurama's question in embarrassment, and was thankful when Kurama chose not to press the issue further. The massive difference between the shinobi code and their _actual_ behavior perplexed Kurama to no end.

* * *

The years flew by.

Mito aged gracefully, but she aged. Her red hair faded to brown and her pale, smooth skin gave way to wrinkles and age spots. She was no longer capable of moving with the same grace she once had.

Kurama knew the time of their separation was fast approaching; it was an inevitability he dreaded as he greatly enjoyed her company in the past decades decades.

The forest in the mindscape aged much as Mito did. The lush, green leaves dried and turned into a riot of red and orange. Leaves broke off and fell to the forest floor by the dozens when the wind blew.

Mito materialized into existence in the clearing. Without moving from her spot, she slowly and carefully sat down. Kurama hopped down from the branch he was perched on and trotted over. He sat down next to her rather than across from her. No words were exchanged as they stared at the falling leaves.

Mito cleared her throat, "It is time." she said finally.

"I know."

"Are you fine staying in the village like this? Are you all right going into another prison?"

Kurama shrugged."I wish to observe more. Konoha is a place that has only gotten more interesting with time. There is a lot of potential for this place to become what my creator dreamed of."

Silence.

"I will miss you though." Kurama admitted after a while.

"I will miss you too." She smiled and gently ruffled the fur on top of Kurama's head with her hand.

The leaves fell in silence.

* * *

Kurama's new jailer was another member of the Uzumaki clan. Kushina, a young girl with a stubborn personality and propensity for shouting, was chosen primarily for her unusually large chakra reserves She also possessed the ability to manifest chakra chains which can be used for both attack and defense.

Kurama woke to find himself in a familiar cage; it was identical to Mito's cage before she changed the scenery.

 _They really need to find a way to improve this seal._ Kurama frowned as he shrank himself down to human size again. _A prisoner would be more likely to cooperate if they were given the carrot rather than the stick._

As if to summoned by his complaints, Kushina popped into existence in front of the cage with a small bang. She was short and slender, with violet eyes and fiery red hair that was typical of the Uzumaki clan.

She immediately started shouting, " **I'M NOT AFRAID OF YOU DEMON FOX! YOU'RE MY PRISONER NOW AND YOU BETTER STAY ON YOUR BEST BEHAVIOR OR ELSE!** "

Kurama stared in silence. She had a lot of spunk, he'll give her that. He hated spunk.

Kushina returned his stare and crossed her arms, "Well? Don't you have anything to say?"

Kurama turned his head and laid down facing away from her, "Whatever you say." He said flippantly. He felt a small surge of anger emanating from her at his blatant dismissal.

"You're not quite like what the others say about you." She stated after her anger receded.

He chuckled, but turned to face her. She had her arms crossed and she stared into his eyes without fear.

"My reputation tends to be... exaggerated. A lot of your kin tends to find convenient excuses to disasters. I don't really mind if it helps them cope with the harshness of this world, but you should know I'm not really the kind that flips mountains upside down and burning down villages." That last bit was only partially true, but Kushina didn't need to know details.

She considered what he said for a minute. "Sorry, I take back what I said." She offered.

"Apology accepted," Kurama sat up again. Now he was getting somewhere. "It really isn't in my nature to stir up trouble, just so you know. However, there are three things I I need you to do for me."

Kushina stayed impatiently silent.

Kurama laid out the same conditions he had set for Mito.

Kushina nodded her head in agreement after listening to his demands, closed her eyes, and inhaled.

As Kushina exhaled, the cage bars fell outwards onto the ground while the cage ceiling flew upwards into darkness. A trickle of water flowed from Kurama's left and grew into a gentle flowing stream between the two. The sky brightened into a vivid hue of orange and red, the fading light of the sinking sun reflecting off of the lazy clouds. Grass sprouted from the brown soil in all directions. Green stretched as far as Kurama could see.

Kushina opened her eyes. "Better?" She asked.

"Better." Kurama nodded. "Come visit me again sometime kid. You might be surprised at how smart I am." He bragged

Kushina stuck her tongue out at him, "See you later Mr. Fox!"

Kurama smiled. "The name is Kurama brat!" He yelled as Kushina poofed out their shared space.

* * *

Kushina never truly grew out of her personality. She was loud, brash, and prone to violent confrontations. She had just about the same subtlety as a crate of class two exploding tags. More often than not, the only solution Kushina had for her problems was an application of overwhelming force behind a closed fist. Despite his initial dislike of her, Kurama gradually warmed up to her as she was unabashedly honest in everything she did and everyone she met.

Things changed after her attempted kidnapping by Kumo-nins however. Kurama had watched helplessly as Kushina was marched away from Konoha and bound by specially inscribed chakra suppressing chains. He had been racking his brains for a way to temporarily nullify the imprisonment shield without harming her when a yellow flash appeared and single-handedly defeated all the enemies. Kurama got a good look at Kushina's savior. He was slightly tanned man with blue eyes and golden hair held back by his forehead protector. He had a sharp face which oozed of confidence.

 _The Yellow Flash indeed._ Kurama thought.

It wasn't really surprising that Kushina fell head over heels for Namikaze Minato. What DID surprise Kurama was when Kushina approached him for help.

"Kurama!"

The disturbance woke Kurama out of his half nap in between the grass. He uncurled himself from his sleeping positions and stretched.

Kushina tapping her feet impatiently, as he trotted over. "You don't usually visit me on weekdays. Is something bothering you?" He asked. It was true. She only ever visited him on Sundays.

"Yes! No! I mean... I need your help." She looked down as her cheeks flushed.

She never asked for his help before. Not ever. Kurama realized she had swallowed her pride for this, so he chose not to mock her. He'll have his fun later.

"So what can I help you with?" He asked, now more curious than anything else.

"Well, I need your insight..." She trailed off.

 _Which tells me absolutely nothing._ Kurama thought. _But if she is dancing around the issue like this..._

"Is this about... Minato?" He ventured.

"Yes! No! I mean... maybe?"

Kurama groaned. This will take a while.

Kurama rolled his eyes and started trotting away, "If you don't tell me exactly what you need from me then stop wasting my time." He was half way back to his favored napping spot when he felt her anger boil over.

" **I NEED YOUR HELP TO GET MINATO! I MEAN, GET MINATO TO LIKE ME! THERE I SAID IT! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!** " She screamed at him. Her face was fast approaching the color of her hair and she was breathing heavily from yelling.

Kurama turned and trotted back. He sat down on his haunches facing her.

"Yes." He said with a smirk.

A large wave of unrefined killing intent spilled out of Kushina and hit like a sledgehammer Kurama, "Uh... Kushina?" He asked nervously.

Kushina's violet eyes disappeared behind a white haze as her face darkened. She eased into a combat stance as her feet spread apart and she hunched over slightly. Her hands dropped down to her side and she clenched them into fists.

 _Is this a_ _new bloodline development?_ Kurama asked himself.

The hair that Kushina normally wore down took on a life of its own and rose and bobbed behind her independently of each other. Chakra chains emerged behind her and reached up and to her side. The sharp stakes bobbed up and down as they oriented themselves at Kurama. Faint traces of blood trickled between her fingers, a testament to how hard she was clenching her fingers. The normally lazy, afternoon sunset Kurama had grown fond of darkened as clouds swallowed up the sky. Lightning struck and cratered the landscape. Wisps of white smoke rose from the soil and congealed into arms, pulling Kurama into the ground as the soil shifted into faces contorted in agony and howled.

Kurama panicked. He spoke quickly, trying to keep his voice even and failing badly.

"I am an expert on human relationships and I know of a great many ways to attract members of the opposite sex." Kurama babbled out.

In an instant, the angry dark clouds dissolved into the air and uncovered the lazy sunset. The faces in the soil disintegrated and the arms dispersed into the grass.

"Oh! Is that so! I'm so glad you've decided to help me!" She closed her eyes and smiled while clapping her hands together. The chakra chains retracted quickly and her fiery red hair fell lifelessly behind her. A trickle of cold sweat ran down Kurama's back. His life had flashed before his eyes.

"Lets start with what we know." Kurama started, eager to avoid a repeat of the raw terror he had witnessed, "Do you know if he likes you?"

"Uh... maybe?" She blushed as she twirled with one end of her hair between her hands. Kurama rolled his eyes. Again.

Kurama with his fore legs crossed together, deep in thought, "If the attraction is mutual, why not start by cooking him something as a token of appreciation? I've often heard humans say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach."

Kushina slowly nodded her head, "That's not a bad idea. What should I make for him?" She asked.

"What does he like?" _Do I really need to ask this? Is she dumber than I thought?_.

"I don't know actually..." Kushina frowned.

"Why not bake some brownies than? You humans seem to have quite the fondness for sweet treats." Kurama suggested.

"You really thing he will like brownies?" She was warming to the idea.

"I'm sure he will like it since you made it for him." Kurama encouraged

"Great! Thanks for your help Kurama!" She puffed out of existence so quickly Kurama didn't even have a chance to respond.

 _Maybe I should have asked if knows how to cook._ Kurama pondered. _Well, its just brownies. How bad can it be?_

* * *

Kushina Uzumaki stomped down the street. People scrambled and gave her a wide berth. They knew that look. Someone or something was going to be ended soon.

The brownies had been a disaster.

 _It's not my fault that you set your kitchen on fire._ Kurama whined inside. _I didn't know it was possible to set coco powder on fire!_

Kushina was in the middle of snarling a retort when she collided with something and fell back on her butt.

"HEY! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" She shouted as she rubbed her bottom.

"I'm Sorry! But you were the one that invited me over you know." A familiar voice said.

Kushina looked up to see a smiling Minato offering her his hand. Kushina blushed, her anger all but forgotten. She took Minato's offered hand and hauled herself upright.

"So, what are you doing out here?" Minato asked.

"I uh... I'm hungry. Lets go get dinner, it will be my treat!" Kushina said hurriedly as she grabbed Minato's arm and started dragging him away.

Minato turned his head back and squinted in down the street in the direction Kushina came from.

"Is there a fire in your apartment building? Shouldn't we go back and check it out first?" He asked.

"It's nothing don't worry about it." She huffed as several firemen ran past them with buckets of water.

* * *

The dinner was a catastrophe.

No one was quite sure what had happened. Everything was fine one minute, and the next a massive explosion rocked the market district. A massive inferno consumed the restaurant as the district descended into pandemonium. Firefighters battled the blaze for six whole hours before the fire was contained. Konoha General Hospital was filled to capacity with shell shocked survivors and walked wounded, the scene reminiscent of the darkest days of the Second Shinobi War.

The local police station received two new patrons that night.

Minato sat one cell, shocked to silence. He had been charged with disturbing the peace.

Kushina sat with her head lowered shame in the adjacent cell. She is charged with multiple counts of disturbing the peace and aggravated assault. She also needed to pay a fine for head-butting one of the dogs belonging to the Inuzuka Clan that had been out for a walk.

After an hour passed, Minato managed, "Well, you certainly know how to show a me a good time."

Kushina's head lowered further in shame while Kurama roared with laughter on the grass in the mindscape.

* * *

A gentle earthquake in the mind scape startled Kurama awake.

 _That's different._ He thought. Worried, Kurama accessed the shared senses

Her eyes were closed, but Kurama could hear heavy breathing. Kurama kept their link open until Kushina opened her eyes. He caught a flash of a familiar golden hair in her vision.

 _Ah._ _Good for her._ Kurama cut the shared senses immediately and curled back up, though he had difficulties going back to sleep due to the rolling earthquakes.

* * *

When Kushina came to visit that Sunday, she found Kurama waiting for her with a smirk. She felt an overwhelming urge to punch that smile off his face.

"It appears our little Kunoichi is now all grown up." Kurama said in sadness. He brushed away an exaggerated tear from his eyes with his paw.

Kushina turned bright red.

"You, you saw?" She stammered.

Kurama laughed, "Just enough to see what was happening." His faced turned serious, "I've been thinking its time that Minato changed his nickname to something more appropriate."

"And what, may I ask, should his new nickname be?" Kushina asked suspiciously, fully unaware of the the trap Kurama was luring her into.

"He should change his name to Yellow Flasher!" Kurama shouted and roared with laughter at his juvenile joke.

Kurama felt searing pain across his entire body as he was lifted into the air by Kushina's uppercut. He flew back a hundred meters and landed with a thud. Kurama yowled as chakra chains rained down from the sky and dug deep into his tails. Kurama looked up in pain, but Kushina was already gone.

 _Worth it._ Kurama thought in between bouts of pain. _Maybe I should have told her she's pregnant_.

 _Nah..._

* * *

Kurama limited his presence during the final stages of Kushina's pregnancy. The seal, though powerful enough to hold a tailed beast, was also at its weakest as the mother carried a new life inside her.

He was caught completely unaware when the mind scape started shaking violently.

"Kushina?" He asked.

Hairline fractures splintered across the afternoon sky. The earth beneath Kurama shook violently as random bits of soil pushed up from the ground.

" **KUSHINA!"**

The sky shattered outwards into a million fragments and gave way to darkness. The ground beneath Kurama gave way and vanished. Kurama fell screaming into the black abyss.

* * *

Kurama awoke once again. _This really needs to stop happening._

He breathed in deeply _._ _This is.. real._ He thought. He could feel the coolness of the evening air and the soft grass he was lying on. He was in the real world.

Kurama opened his eyes. Kushina laid in front of him on the ground. She was alive, but weak. Next to her stood a man with short black hair in a black cloak. The man's face was completely covered with an orange mask, a swirling pattern ending in a single dark hole where the eye should be.

The man turned and looked up at Kurama as if appraising him. Kurama took this brief pause to create a much needed lifeline. Pure chakra dripped out of the tail closest to the ground. The chakra droplets hit the ground and bounced. At the apex of the bounce, the droplets shifted into the form of small foxes and darted into the woods. Kurama could feel his proxies splitting a few more times as they raced away into the night.

As Kurama felt the last of the proxies fade in the distance, the man with the orange mask appear suddenly on top of his nose.

 _A displacement technique?_ Kurama thought as he focused on the hole on the man's mask.

The eye behind the hole glowed red.

 _Sharingan._

 _Not again_ Kurama cursed himself as he felt his consciousness fading.

In the depths of the forest, a great Demon Fox wreathed in chakra fire raised its head in the moonlight and let out a terrifying roar.

* * *

The losses had been terrible. The Demon Fox had torn straight through all three of the hastily assembled defensive lines. Weaker shinobi had been frozen or killed outright by the massive killing intent that pulsed out of the Nine-tails. Shinobi died by the dozens as the Fox clawed at their hiding places and leveled entire sections of the forest. The demon had shrugged off their strongest explosive tags and kunai without slowing down. Each swiped of nine tails felled trees and cratered the land

Just as the demon was about to tear down the northern section of the village wall, the Yondaime had arrived on top of Gamabunta. The first of the Toad Clan struggled against the demon fox and was able to temporarily subdue him before Minato had teleported the Fox away.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had initially questioned the effectiveness of the tactic as the Fox can simply make its way back to Konoha, and Gamabunta was no match for the beast in a drawn out fight. He now understood the terrible meaning behind his successor's desperate action.

Sarutobi in full battle gi was still counting the losses in his head when he and his ANBU escorts arrived at the massive clearing.

They stared.

Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzamaki lay lifeless in a bloodied embrace on the ground before him; their eyes closed and their face caked with dirt and marred by dried tears. A rough stone altar occupied the center of the clearing. _Oh Minato... had you only told me what you planned to do..._

The soft sound of a baby's wail snapped Sarutobi out of his thoughts. He ran to the stone altar and gasped. On the altar was a wailing newborn with golden blond hair.

 _Kushina..._ Sarutobi choked back his tears as he realized the full extent of Minato and Kushina's sacrifice. He scooped up the baby, blanket and all, into his arms and rocked the baby gently.

"Dog, inform the Inuzuka tracking teams we have found the Yondaime and Kushina Uzumaki," Sarutobi ordered, "Have them divert to sector 112 to locate the Yondaime's escorts. When the escorts are found, have the investigation teams perform a full analysis before moving the bodies. When you have the results, report directly to me." The silver haired Anbu nodded.

"Cat, contact Shikaku Nara in the command center and have them dispatch a recovery team here. Tell him to prepare the post battle damage assessment as well as a list of our casualties... Inform the advisers of what has happened and send a message to the civilian council. Tell them... tell them I am temporarily in charge until a suitable Hokage replacement can be found." The purple haired Anbu dipped her head in acknowledgement

Nodding his head in dismissal, the two ANBU vanished in a swirl of leaves.

Sarutobi sighed and looked down at the sniffling baby.

* * *

Kurama stirred from his hazy nightmare and winced as massive pain echoed in his mind. He could sense that he was locked away again.

 _If_ _I'm locked away, that means the masked man's plan failed._ _I'm sure Kushina made it out fine though, she's a tough one._ Kurama comforted himself.

Kurama was never very good at fooling himself, so he chose to file away the sad thoughts. Kurama sat up and took in his surroundings

 _Wonderful_. He thought as he stared past the bars of his cage and into the darkness. _At least they added something new this time._ Water pooled around his legs as he shrank himself down to a more manageable form. Kurama examined his the inscriptions on his cage as he pressed one of his paws against the bar.

 _Eight Trigrams Seal_. He stated to no one in particular. _Though... i_ _t's not as strong as it can be... I can feel my chakra leaking out of the cage... perhaps whoever sealed me didn't have enough time to properly perform the seal?_ Kurama pondered for a second.

 _No, this was done intentionally. Whoever sealed me in here wanted my jailer to have access to my chakra..._ Kurama concluded.

He had a pretty good idea of who his new jailer was; the most obvious choice would have been an Uzumaki, and given that the current mind scape was not the one he shared with Kushina, it meant he was sealed in the closest available Uzumaki candidate. The Uzumaki with Namikaze blood.

Kurama sighed at the desperation and anguish the parents must have felt as they sacrificed their baby to contain him. He decided then and there he was going to do everything in his power to help this child. He owed it to Kushina.

 _It's not as if I was doing anything more meaningful anyway._ Kurama reasoned.

As he laid back down, Kurama noticed a mote of light dancing frantically just outside the cage. Kurama squinted at the mote and could feel pure terror radiating from it.

Kurama stretched out his tails and pushed against the seal. The seal strained, but gave way just slightly. He gathered the mote of light in his slightly diminished tails and rocked it gently. He hummed a gently lullaby, a song he recalled from Mito's time as a mother.

The mote settled down, growing stronger and brighter as the feeling of terror receded.

Kurama poured images of a smiling Kushina an Minato as well as the feeling of warmth and comfort into the mote.

The mote glowed intensely while radiating warmth in response. The mote flashed once, twice, and then disappeared for good.

Kurama retracted his tails and laid down. Though alone again, he closed his eyes and smiled.

* * *

Sarutobi leapt from tree to tree as he made his way back to Konoha. He had been dreading the damage report so much he barely noticed the baby had stopped crying.

Worried, Sarutobi stopped at the next branch and Sarutobi gently pulled back the blue blanket covering the baby's face. He noticed for the first time the whisker marks which adorned the babies face. Two large blue saucers stared back at him and cooed happily.

Sarutobi smiled at the baby, "It is nice to meet you Naruto."

* * *

A/N: This is my first attempt at a story.

Edit: 6/25 3rd round of proofreading. Minor re-wording / sentence changes. Formatting.

Edit: 6/26 Spell check (Should have done this first).

Edit: 6/30 Massive content re-write/update. More exposition for Kurama to better explain his motivations, yada yada yada. Remaining chapters to be taken offline until rewrite is complete and quality is up to acceptable standard.

Special thanks to SortaCore for formatting/writing tips.


	2. The Reason You Are Hated

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Notice: The prologue has been re-written. Please check it out before continuing on. Thank you for your time.

 **Chapter 2: The Reason You Are Hated**

A disheveled, bare-footed four year old Naruto stepped out an unlit alleyway underneath a moonless sky. His dark green sandals were gone;, dirt caked his pants and forearms, and his right pant leg was torn from the knee down. His trademark white shirt with the red fire spiral reeked of alcohol and sweat, his left shoulder ached slightly from where the wine bottle had struck him.

Naruto stopped briefly to calm the pounding in his heart, but a faint echo in the breeze drove him forward. He backed away from the echo, turned, and hurriedly limped in the opposite direction. He did not notice the various mansions and estates behind the white walls running down the length of the street on both sides. Stone lanterns dimly illuminated the streets as Naruto shuffled along.

A man rounded the corner far behind Naruto, squinted at him, and started pointing and yelling. Two more appeared, then five, then a whole crowd of drunken, angry men and women bent on violence

Naruto threw a frightened glance behind him as he kept limping away, his terror overriding the pain in his right ankle.

An inner voice urged him on.

 _Hurry. Faster._

Naruto had made a terrible mistake; his eyes widened as the street abruptly ended in white stone steps leading up to a solid grey wall with a set of rounded red doors. Two torches hung on either sides of the door, each illuminating imposing stone statues twice the height of a normal man. The statues depicted monkey warriors with in full shinobi armor in combat stances. The monkey warrior on the left held two axes, one in an outstretched arm at an angle, while the other was held above and behind the main body of the statue. The statue leaned backwards, the left leg stretched foward angled towards the ground, while the right leg was turned away in a crouch. The one the right held a thick staff in its right hand slightly raised behind its hips, while an outstretched left arm ended in an open arm. This statue was standing on its right leg, the left leg was folded against the main body.

With no other choices available to him, Naruto limped up the steps and lurched towards the red doors. There was a wooden plaque with red letters set in a gold engraving mounted above the doors. He recognized one of the large, golden character inscribed on the left door. _Monkey._

Naruto was too short for the rounded bronze doorknockers, so he began shouting as loud as he could while pounding the door with his tiny fists.

The crowd drew closer, their shouting and jeering filling the air

 **DEMON!** They chanted, as rotten vegetables and makeshift missiles flew at at Naruto.

Naruto ceased his pounding. He was out of steam. He sank to his knees and sobbed as the crowd stalked up the stone steps.

 **"ENOUGH!** A deep voice that seemed to come from everywhere at once shocked the mob to silence.

The trees lining the street swayed from the raw power behind the voice. The confused crowd looked at each other and searched their surroundings to find the source. A few of the more observant members of the crowd spied the inscribed characters and started to back away slowly.

The crowd froze as the heavy wooden doors creaked open backwards. A set of hands marred by age and battle swooped down and supported Naruto as he pitched forwards.

Naruto struggled lightly as powerful, protective arms gathered him up.

Naruto looked up and ceased struggling. He knew this person. Naruto whisper weakly, "Jiji?"

Sarutobi looked down and nodded. He smiled at Naruto, his rage hidden behind a mask. "Shh, it's ok now. You're safe."

Naruto's world dimmed to blackness.

* * *

October 10th was just another typical day at the orphanage locate at the outskirts Konoha.

The orphanage was a simple wooden affair; it was a long rectangular building two stories tall with a gently sloping roof covered by the traditional blue ceramic tiles. A slightly taller clocker tower was attached to the front end of the building. The main floor consisted of a simple reception area by the main entrance, visitors lounge for perspective parents, a large kitchen, a nursery, a dining hall that doubled as an assembly area, and also numerous classrooms and playrooms. All of the rooms featured large rectangular windows which allowed sunlight to our in. The second story was slightly smaller, but still packed with enough rooms and bed for at least a hundreds children and the necessary caretakers.

The orphanage had been founded by a kindly medical-nin after the Second Shinobi War. Back then, the orphanage was constantly over capacity and the orphans often had to share rooms. Now however, less than a quarter of the rooms were occupied. There had been a sudden influx of orphans after the Demon Fox attacked four years ago true, but most of the children had been adopted out by surrounding townsfolk and distant relatives. Only one child was never considered for adoption.

Naruto was four now according to the orphanage's records. Not only was he the oldest orphan, he was also the orphan who had stayed the longest. Naruto had made many friends initially, but one by one they were adopted out and he lost contact with them. Though he held on to the faint hope he would have family one day, he always felt the accusatory looks visitors gave him whenever he was seen. After a while Naruto simply gave up and spent most of his free time by himself exploring the surrounding forests or daydreaming on top of the roof.

The caretakers knew his secret, courtesy of the gossips in the civilian council who controlled their funding. The head caretaker himself was well aware of the council's petty vindictiveness, and only 'acquiesced' to their secret demands for Naruto in exchange for more funding. Knowing that no one would ever adopt Naruto to the existing prejudice, the caretakers sought to improve Naruto's stock for the recruitment teachers from the Shinobi Academy.

The caretakers 'punished' Naruto for the smallest infraction according to the wishes of the council by making him do chakra moulding exercises. They encouraged Naruto to run and 'play alone' in the forests to build his stamina, though he was always secretly watched from on high by a retired Jounin now turned caretaker.

The only constant in Naruto's life aside from the caretakers was the kindly old man with the funny hat who visited the orphanage every so often. Naruto wasn't blind to the fact Sarutobi payed more attention to him during his short visits than the other orphans. Every time the old man visited he doled out candy and confections generously to the excited children, but he would always save a little something extra for Naruto.

Naruto had woken up fairly early today. After eating breakfast alone in the dining room, one of the caretakers had dragged him off to do chakra moulding exercises. Though he failed for three days when the lesson was first taught to him, Naruto had kept at the practice religiously it until it became natural. After lunch, the caretaker had dismissed Naruto and allowed him to wonder around the forest 'alone.' Naruto had spent an hour swimming in a pond he had found on a previous excursion, and spent the rest of his time chasing rabbits and other small woodland creatures.

By the time Naruto returned and washed up, he was completely exhausted. He shoved dinner into his mouth quickly in the dining room and dove into soft embrace of his bed before the sun had completely set.

* * *

Hours later a muted thump pulled Naruto out of his dream. Naruto yawned as he sat up and stretched his arms into the air.

 _Thump._ Curious, Naruto swung his feet off the bed and stood up. He crept towards his window, keeping his ear alert for the source of the noise.

 _Thump. Thump Thump._ The fresh evening air flowed into his room as Naruto threw open the window and looked towards the source of the noise.

He was dazzled by the light show before him.

Off in the distance, multiple missiles screamed in the air as they arced towards the black evening sky. At the peak of their arc, the missiles exploded into a million multi-colored pieces that fell back towards the Earth.

 _It's so pretty._ Naruto gaped. His curiosity piqued, Naruto quickly changed out of his pajamas and slid into his white shirt and orange track pants. After tightening the straps on his sandals, he pulled himself up over the window edge and onto the roof. He scrambled quietly across the blue clay tiles against the second story wall and made his way towards back of the building. Naruto wrapped his body around the small metal drainage pipe and slid down quietly, careful to not attract any attention. He crouched low as he hit the ground and stayed silent, listening for any signs of discovery. After a brief pause, Naruto grinned and sprinted out across the open yard. He ran towards the source of the spectacle, his nervousness all but forgotten at the prospect of something new and exciting.

* * *

Naruto could scarcely believe his eyes.

In front of him past the lines of bushes he hid in, was the largest collection of people he had seen his entire life.

The festival was a relatively new event that came to existence a year after the Great Demon Fox was defeated. Originally marked as a memorial event for the shinobis who gave their lives valiantly in defense of the village , the day was appropriated by greedy villagers who had hoped to capitalize on the event and turn a quick profit. They were successful beyond their wildest dreams. Subsequent festivals grew louder and gaudier, with more and more people showing up to enjoy the spectacle.

The event itself was located in the village center, a circular, stone-paved area with multiple streets intersecting and branching off from it. Trees and bushes lined the outer perimeter of the circle, while stings of paper lanterns hung from one wooden post to the next and brought light to the moonless night. The centerpiece of the festival was an effigy of the demon fox hanging from a large wooden pole with a rope tied around its neck in the middle of the village center. The effigy itself was crudely made; it was a series of sacks stuffed with dried leaves and compost, stitched together with the all the skill of an underworld surgeon and hung by the neck over a large pit. A poorly drawn face with a comically sad frown adorned the 'head' of the effigy. Were it not for the fact there were nine long sacks stitched to the 'torso,' one would have been hard pressed to identify the exact source of inspiration. Upon seeing the crude effigy, a wave of amusement washed out from inside Naruto.

Multi-colored stalls surrounded the stood next to the trees and lined the streets. The stalls had everything from freshly grilled meats and fish, rigged games with large printed signs that read "No Chakra" (to deter any shinobi from clearing out the stock), to peddlers that sold sparklers, animal masks, and assorted decorative trinkets. Naruto's own stomach growled as the aroma of grilled chiken reached his nostrils. He licked his lips and looked on hungrily.

Naruto stared at the festival goers and studied them. There were people of all shapes and sizes. Some were tall and skinny, some short and fat. Most had black or brown hair, though one particular female had pink hair pinned up with a golden headpiece. Some wore traditional kimonos as well as multi-colored yukatas; others wore denim shorts and t-shirts. The people he saw held on to each other, laughed themselves silly, and shouted with excitement at impossible games of chance.

Naruto's throat tightened; despite the festivities playing out before him, he felt as if he was the loneliest person on the planet right then and there.

 _Why can't I have this?_ He asked himself. Abruptly, Naruto tore his gaze away from the crowds and stared at the sky. He could not understand why he was different, why he was hiding in the bushes instead of standing in the street like everyone with this line of thinking, Naruto pushed away his thoughts and made his decision. Giving one last look at the festival, Naruto turned to crawl away. It was time to go back to the orphanage.

A booming announcement that Naruto couldn't make out silenced the festivities. He stopped and looked up. As one, the crowd was started shuffling towards the village center and the effigy. Naruto scrambled up a tree and hopped onto one of the lower branches. He wanted to see what was happening

A large balding man with tanned skin and grey hair in a gold and white kimono shouted into a megaphone he held in his left hand. He held and waved a lit torch on his right hand. Naruto struggled to make out what the man as the crowd started shouting louder and louder. The crescendo of shouts reached its peak as the man lifted the torch towards the sky and stabbed the torch into effigy. The crowd cheered as the effigy was quickly consumed in a fiery embrace. The announcer bowed low amidst thunderous applause.

Naruto stared in morbid fascination as the string holding the effigy snapped and the charred remnants fell into the pit and smoldered.

The bald man lifted his head and smiled as his eyes swept over the crowd. Naruto froze as the man's gaze stopped and fixated on him. The man shouted something incoherent and pointed wildly in Naruto's general direction. The crowd fell silent and turned their heads to Naruto. He felt a growing unease in his gut as the entirety of village center scrutinized him, their eyes with undisguised hatred. Someone in the crowd shouted, and Naruto instinctively dodged as a rock the size of an adult fist sailed past his head.

Naruto turned and hopped off the branch as the rest of the crowd started shouting. Landing smoothly on the soil he rolled forward, redirecting momentum as makeshift missiles peppered the area around him around him. Naruto scrambled through the bushes on his arms and knees , but twigs snagged his feet. He twisted around and undid his sandals in a hurry to untangle himself. Naruto dashed forward, climbing over a fence and leaving his sandals behind. As he swung his legs over a piece of wire caught his pants. Fabric tore as Naruto pulled on his legs and fell off the fence. Naruto picked himself back up and cut between some stalls before spilling out onto a side street. Naruto sprinted away from the village center the as shopkeepers pointed and yelled at him. As he ran Naruto looked back and saw that a portion of the crowd was giving chase.

Though Naruto was quite swift on his legs, he was still only a small kid; the crowd soon closed the gap. Various sticks, trash, and beverage containers sailed through the air and landed around him as he weaved through the street. A half empty bottle of sake caught him in the shoulder, spilling its contents out. Naruto gasped in pain and grabbed his shoulder as alcohol splashed across his upper torso; still he ran.

As he approached a darkened intersection, a voice inside him called out.

 _Left_. The voice commanded. Naruto slowed.

 _GO LEFT._ The voice shouted now, seemingly impatient.

Naruto veered left at the intersection.

 _Now go right._ The voice nagged as Naruto approached an alley.

Again Naruto obeyed. He ran full tilted down the alley even though it was completely dark. His eyes adjusted just in time to see a large pile of bagged garbage appear in front of him. Naruto leaped instinctively, letting the momentum of his sprint carry him up and across the garbage. As he made contact with the ground however, his left foot slipped on wet asphalt. Naruto's put out his right leg to stabilize himself and screamed in pain as pain shot up his ankle from the poor landing. Naruto lost his balance and fell forward face first into the ground. Naruto moaned and pushed himself up against the wall using his left leg.

 _Hurry._ The voice urged.

Wincing with pain at each step he took, Naruto stepped out of the alley.

* * *

A seething Sarutobi held on to Naruto as he lost consciousness.

A solidly built young man with short, spiky black hair and goatee wearing a chunin vest stepped out from behind Sarutobi, a small trail of smoke coming from the cigarette in his mouth. He took one look at the scene before him and shook his head.

 _The idiots._

Sarutobi turned to face Asuma. A blade of wind chakra cut Asuma's cigarette in half by the stem. Asuma spat out the cigarette stump and swallowed nervously

"Asuma, take Naruto to the hospital and have the doctors examine him." Sarutobi said gravely with a tone that left no room for argument. Asuma nodded as his the elder Sarutobi handed him the blond kid.

"Dog." A silver haired Anbu materialized next to Asuma and knelt. "Go with him, make sure they get to the Hospital without any... distractions."Sarutobi commanded. Dog nodded and both man shunshin-ed towards the hospital without further comment.

The smile Sarutobi wore for Naruto vanished now and his mask gave way to a impassive face. This was the same expression that frozen enemy Jounin in their paths and gave pause to fellow Kages. This was the face of a stone cold killer who knew a thousand different ways to kill an enemy without moving from where he stood.

The kindly old leader who gave candy to laughing children and greeted villagers on the street was currently on a sabbatical.

" **So** ," Sarutobi began. His eyes swept out towards the gathered group of villagers standing in front of him. "Will someone please explain to me what happened?" Sarutobi's voice was neutral, though a few in the crowd knew how dangerously close to violence the Hokage was.

The crowd remained silent, looking nervously at one another. As it happens, the least intelligent of the lot, the fat balding oaf with the megaphone courageously pushed his way forward to the front of the assembled crowd to challenge the old man directly.

"We were gonna punish that demon for ruining our fun!" He yelled as he jabbed a finger at Sarutobi, "Ya let him get away from us, so I'm holdin' ya responsible for all the damage he caused." The blood drained from the faces of the entire crowd. They could have talked their way out of this, but not anymore.

Sarutobi, normally accustomed to a modicum of respect, was completely unprepared for the man's audacity. He was taken aback, but only for a fraction of a second.

"And just how did Naruto ruin your... 'fun?'" He inquired.

"He waz there!" The oaf responded loudly, as if that was somehow a sufficient explanation for everything that had happened.

"Can you be more specific?" Sarutobi pressed.

"He waz there!" The oaf screeched as Sarutobi gawked at him, "He waz there when he shouldn't be! He waz gonna ruin everything again just like he did four years ago! So I waz goin' to put the demon down like he shoulda been from the very start."

The man continued, "The demonz only aliv' 'cause dat goddamn failure of the hokage ain't man enough to kill him and now hes dead cuz of his stupidity!"

The crowd gasped. If there were buttons to anger Sarutobi, the oaf would be slamming on all of them with a giant mallet hammer. Sarutobi scanned the faces of those in the crowd. Everyone backed away from the man.

"What'sa matta? You not man enouf to look at me in the eyes? Yar just a washed up has been wipin' up the failures' shit!" The oaf spat.

Without warning, a massive shockwave of killing intent exploded from Sarutobi. The typhoon of raw power pushed the entire crowd face first onto the ground while kicking up dirt and swaying trees. Building foundations as far as the outskirts of Konoha shook lightly, causing windows and doors to rattle in turn. Startled birds took to the night while panicked animals cried.

The man who had been so loud and insulting was now in a panting heap on the ground. As Sarutobi stepped towards him, the man gave out a yelp of fear and scrambled backwards on his hands and butt.

"What is the meaning of this?!" A male voice from to his right demanded.

"Homura, Koharu, how good of you to show up. And I see you've brought Danzo along." Sarutobi spoke deadpanned without even looking in the trio's direction.

"Whatever you are doing, you must stop at once! This is a matter for the civilian council since it doesn't involve your shinobis." The elderly female stated.

Sarutobi turned his head until his gaze settled on his former teammates. Koharu and Homura returned his stare defiantly, while Danzo looked aloof. Six anbu flanked the three elders, but all knelt in submission to their Hokage.

"Is that so?" Sarutobi said sweetly. "Well, why don't we convene the council right now then?"

"Right now?"

Before Koharu could lodge any further protests, Sarutobi's left hand shot out from underneath the robes. He pointed to the crowd with his hand, then pulled his hand close his face as he ball up his fist.

The Anbu vanished from where they knelt and reappeared in a hexagonal formation around the crowd. As one, they flashed through a long series of hand signs and collapsed their hands together.

 **Suiro no Jutsu!**

Sarutobi felt the air drying as the moisture was sucked towards the middle of the crowd. A small droplet of water appeared, growing steadily and swirling quicker and quicker. The water prison grew larger larger, trapping more and more of the recovering villagers. Sarutobi stared as the trapped villagers struggled to hold their breath.

Koharu screamed, "STOP THIS AT ONCE SARUTOBI!"

Sarutobi ignored her."Take them to the council chambers." He ordered.

The six Anbu walked towards the Hokage tower, each contributing to the integrity of the water prison with one arm.

Sarutobi turned to look at the three advisers. Koharu's face was red with anger while Homura shook his head in disapproval. Danzo remained aloof, but his face gave the smallest hint of a smirk.

 _He always did enjoy putting the civilians in their place._ Sarutobi mused.

"I will summon the council." Homura stated.

"You better hurry. I don't think those villagers can hold their breath for too long." Sarutobi tossed back as he walked away. Danzo followed.

Homura and Koharus went white as realization hit them and ran off unceremoniously.

* * *

Sarutobi stood in front of his chair in the council chambers with his eyes closed. Danzo sat one chair away to his left, blissfully silent with his thoughts to himself. The Anbu stood off to the right, maintaining their water prison in silence and occasionally blowing a bubble of air into large ball of water.

The council chamber was a carpeted, round room furnished with a large circular oak table and almost two dozen wooden chairs. The walls and ceiling were painted in beige, while three large portraits of the previous Hokages hung behind Sarutobi's chair. The room was illuminated by off white light bulbs, a fairly new invention out of Lightning Country that was still in evaluation stages.

Across from Sarutobi, a set of double doors were thrown open with a bang. Civilian councilors flooded into the room, shouting and pleading at Sarutobi. The military council walked into the room casually, apparently unconcerned with the sight before them. They took seats while the councilors remained standing and continued their individual tirades.

"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT-"

"THIS IS A MATTER FOR THE-"

Sarutobi exhaled and opened his eyes.

"Sit." He commanded.

The shouting continued.

 **"SIT."** He stated as a massive killing intent blanketed the room.

The councilors found their seats quickly, much as school children did in the face of an angry headmaster. Homura and Koharu refused to look at Sarutobi as they took their seats to the left and right of him.

"Good, we can get started now." Sarutobi smiled without any warmth and nodded to the Anbu. The Anbu withdrew their arms and ended the jutsu. The prison collapsed violently, spilling water and villagers everywhere.

Councilors jumped up and shouted in dismay as water splashed onto their onto their robes and other decorative trinkets. Sarutobi repressed a grin.

One of more dignified councilors spoke up. "Please, Hokage-sama, what is the meaning behind this display?" He asked.

Sarutobi spoke, "As you know, today is October 10th, the fourth anniversary of the Kyuubi attack. While this is certainly a cause of celebrations, a citizen of Konoha was attacked tonight."

Dead silence as shock reigned gathered councilors.

"Who was attacked?" A different councilor asked.

" **THE DEMON!** " A shout came from the crowd of shivering villagers. The fat oaf pushed his way forward again.

" **YEA DATS RIGHT**! We hurt that demon brat! We're would have killed him too if it ain't for him!" The man had somehow found his courage in front of the civilian councilors.

 _Typical. Just another spoiled man-child crying to mommy._

Sarutobi looked around the table. The shinobi war council simply stared in shock at the man's audacity. A good portion of the civilian councilors shook their head in disapproval at man's impertinence and complete lack of respect, never mind he just admitted to assaulting a child, demon container or not.

"We shoulda killed him," The man was on a rant now, "Let him die in the streets like that gud for nothing Hokage you call a fourth!"

Everyone in the room gasped. No one was stupid enough to think Konoha could have escaped harm without the sacrifice of The Yellow Flash. There were those on both councils who could not recall the numerous times they have been saved by the Yondaime out on the field. Even Danzo narrowed his eye at the outrageous insults. Sarutobi closed his eyes and said nothing. The man was making Sarutobi's case for him. He opened his eyes to the civilian councilors whispering and nodding to each other. As the whispering ceased the councilors sat up straight and locked their gazes on Sarutobi. A grey haired representative clothed in a white kimono stood up.

"Hokage-sama." He addressed Sarutobi. "The civilian council does not approve of any attack on a fellow Konoha citizen citizen. We also strongly condemn this man's insults regarding the honored Yondaime. As these villagers have brazenly revealed an S-Class military secret, this issue is no longer under our jurisdiction. We turn these villagers over to you for judgement and hope you will find it in your heart to be lenient."

The fat man sputtered in disbelief while the rest of the villagers looked fearful for their lives.

The rest of the civilian councilors stood bowed to Sarutobi as one. Sarutobi bowed back as the councilors began to file out of the room in silence. Koharu and Homura sat with their mouths open, unable to comprehend the fact their little scheme to undermine the Hokage's authority had failed so spectacularly.

Danzo cleared his throat.

Sarutobi turned. "Do you have something you wish to add, Danzo?"

"With your permission, Hokage-sama," Danzo began. Sarutobi narrowed his eyes; The deference Danzo was showing meant he wanted something.

"I would like to personally question these upstanding citizens. I want to be absolutely certain that there was no evidence of instigation by a foreign power." He paused before continuing. "I'm also sure there is much I can do to help these citizens from making the same mistake again."

 _Ah._ Sarutobi understood now.

Though Danzo and Sarutobi did not always see eye to eye, they both cared for Naruto in their own ways. Sarutobi cared about Naruto because he was a favored grandchild and the village owed him a great deal for he and his parents' sacrifice. Danzo cared about Naruto much the same way a Samurai carefully looked after his swords. Sarutobi correctly read Danzo's hidden meaning;

 _Let me handle this for you. These fools need to be taught a lesson that you can't be seen teaching._

And Danzo was truly angry;a bunch of drunken village idiots had nearly cost Konoha an irreplaceable military weapon.

"I would greatly appreciate your help in this matter," Sarutobi said evenly."But, if you would, can you please give this man your personal attention?" He nodded to the fat man, who paled visibly.

"Of course, I will be sure to find out everything he knows." Danzo nodded as he stood and bowed. Sarutobi returned the bow.

"Escort these fine citizens down to Interrogation." The Anbu nodded and herded the shivering villagers out the door with Danzo in tow.

"The rest of you are dismissed." Sarutobi said to no one in particular.

The war council nodded and shuffled out while quietly chattering among themselves. Homura and Koharu followed, fuming all the while.

Sarutobi was for once, thankful for Danzo. Though he found Danzo's methods distasteful, sometimes distasteful methods were necessary.

 _Especially in the Shinobi World._ Sarutobi mused.

Sarutobi made a mental note to send Danzo a fruit basket later. But first, he will see how Naruto is doing.

* * *

Naruto flailed and lifted his head out of the water, gagging as he struggled to breathe.

He dry heaved for a couple of seconds before sitting upright and looking around.

 _Where did the old man go?_

 **"HELLO? IS ANYONE THERE?!"**

Silence.

Naruto frowned and surveyed his surroundings. He was sitting in a partially flooded corridor with what appeared to be concrete floors under the stagnating water. The walls were covered in pipes of varying sizes, while the ceiling was plastered colored red by what appeared to be emergency lighting.

 _I should get out of here, I don't want to get in any trouble._

Naruto cautiously reached out and poked his right ankle,sighing with relief when there was no pain. He used the metal pipes along the walls to pull himself up to a standing position.

 _Huh, someone fixed my pants._

Naruto looked down at his pants in bewilderment. But decided he can find that out after he got out of here. He glanced up and down the corridor. Off to his right, the corridor stretched on into utter darkness. To his left, the corridor seemed to be lit with emergency lights much like where he was standing.

Opting for what seems to be the safest path, Naruto turned to his left and started walking.

15 minutes later the red emergency lights ran out.

Naruto stared into the darkness ahead of him.

 _Hey I can see something!_

He squinted. Sure enough, there was a tiny glimmer of light.

Naruto put his hand on the pipes in the wall, using them to guide him towards the light.

* * *

Whatever he had expected at the end of the corridor, this wasn't it.

The corridor opened up into a massive cubical space. The space was so massive Naruto could see the walls and the ceiling fade and stretch into darkness. In front of him was what appeared to be a massive cage with thick metal pillars for the cage bars. A red hill of fur sat behind the cage bars.

Naruto approached the cage entrance.

As he put held out his hand to touch the bars, an invisible barrier blocked his movement. A series of black inscriptions sprang to life and glowed green.

A sudden movement past the bars caught his eye.

Naruto backed up slowly as the red hill shook and uncurled itself. The top of the hill lifted and opened up backwards, dividing into nine, waving tails. The front of the hill lifted itself higher and higher, two black streaks appearing from the middle and sweeping to the left and right side. Naruto craned his neck and stared. The streaks opened up revealed impossibly large eyes. A mouth as wide as Konoha central avenue opened up and revealed a row of razor sharp teeth, each the height an adult male. The creature wiggled its ears and stretched its arms above its head to yawn. The creature had a distinctively... _Foxy..._ look to it.

Naruto stared with his mouth. It put its head back down lazily and stared right at Naruto, studying him in silence.

 _I must be dreaming._

A deep, rumbling laughter escaped the Fox.

"You aren't dreaming." The Fox informed him.

 _Wow! It reads minds! AMAZING!_

"No, I can't read minds. But I can read faces very, very easily, especially stupid ones like yours." The Fox mocked him.

"Don't call my face stupid, Stupid!" Naruto shouted angrily as the Fox roared with laughter at the weak comeback.

"Just who do you think you are anyway huh?! Don't you know who I am?!"

The Fox stopped laughing and stared straight at him "You are Uzumaki Naruto." He stated deadpan.

Naruto went silent. He didn't expected that answer

He shouted again while jabbing his finger at the creature. "Well who the heck are you then?!"

The Fox raised itself to its full height and stared down at Naruto.

"I am known as the Nine-tailed Demon Fox," The creature's voice boomed with power in the empty space. "You humans also call me the Lord of Destruction, Agony and Despair made manifest! The Trickster God who steals from all!" Naruto nearly fell over from the sheer volume of the proclamation.

The Fox trailed off into a barely audible whisper "And I am the reason everyone hates you."

Silence.

 **"WHAT?!"**

* * *

A/N: Thank you all for the follows / favourites / reviews. It is very encouraging. :3

Danzo is a bastard yes, but he has his uses too. Sarutobi might not like him much, but that doesn't mean they can't see eye to eye on some subjects.


	3. A New Friend

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

 **Chapter 3: A New Friend**

" **WHAT?!"** Naruto exclaimed as he stared at the mountain-sized Fox in front of him.

"You'll have to be more specific with that question." The Fox stated tonelessly.

Naruto crossed his arms in front of him, his eyes closed and his mouth upturned into a frown. Despite desperately wanting to know why he was hated, he was more curious about the creature in front of him.

 _And since he already knows MY name..._

Naruto opened his eyes and asked, "You say people call you the Nine-tailed Demon Fox, but do you have a name?"

"Yes." The Fox smiled but offered nothing more, though his tails started waving back and forth.

Naruto pressed on impatiently, "Can you tell me your name?"

The creature's face broke into a grin, "My name is Kurama."

"Okay Kurama, can you tell me where we are and how we can get out of here?"

 _Not bad_. _He's more interested about getting out of here than playing twenty questions_. _He might not know it, but he is pretty sharp._ Kurama observed.

"We are currently inside your head," Kurama informed him, "Everything you are seeing right now is your imagination, except me, of course."

"But how do I get out of here?" Naruto insisted.

"You will leave here once you wake up."

"And that will be...?"

"Soon. Your body is fine; you're exhausted from running so much." Kurama huffed, "Tell me... what do you remember?"

"I remember a lot of shouting, a lot of people chasing me... a voice telling me where to go..." Naruto trailed off as realization hit him, "That was you wasn't it?"

Kurama nodded his massive head.

"How did you know where Jiji was?" Naruto asked.

"I didn't."

Naruto stared.

"Naruto, I've been around for a _very_ _very_ long time. I've been in Konoha for almost as long as there WAS a Konoha. I've seen the entire village a dozen times over. I know where every single clan lives - "

"Wait, so you're older then jiji?"

"A **LOT** older."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. Now, back to your question; I didn't know where the Hokage was for sure, but I DO know where the most prestigious clans are... including the Sarutobi Clan compound. And since he is the clan leader..."

Naruto nodded but asked, "But what if you were wrong and the old man wasn't there?"

Kurama shrugged, "The clan knows the Hokage likes you. Even if he was not there his family or clan members probably would have came out to help."

Naruto smiled, secretly pleased that the old man was fond of him. Since Kurama already told him he wasn't able to leave until he woke up, he decided to ask the question that was at the top of his mind.

"So why are you the reason everyone hates me?" Naruto asked.

"They think I'm you. They think since I have done evil things in the past, you will do evil things sooner or later too. And before you ask, no I was not directly responsible for the things I'm accused of. It just so happens a good portion of the human population find it acceptable to assign guilt by association."

"If that's true then how come everyone still hates you?"

Kurama shrugged, "There is no way they will believe a Demon Fox over the words of another person; it's easier for your kind to cope with this world if they can somehow rationalize random events."

"That's not fair to us though!" Naruto exclaimed angrily, though he barely understood half of Kurama's explanations. All Naruto knew was he didn't like been blamed for things he didn't do; Kurama found it oddly touching that Naruto was angry on his behalf despite having just met each other.

 _I'll have to break his illusions a little... this world is short on compassion..._ Kurama thought sadly.

"Naruto," Kurama said softly, "This world is not fair. Bad things happen to good people all the time. You should know that better than anyone."

Naruto looked away and said nothing.

Kurama comforted him, "Words are just words Naruto, they only have as much power as you give them. Don't be a person who is weak enough to be hurt by words ok? In my experience, actions speak louder than words anyway."

Naruto nodded and grinned.

"So, why are you inside me?"

"Because you were the best choice to contain me. How much do you know about me anyway?"

Naruto shrugged and gave him the patented I-don't-know-anything-look.

Kurama sighed. These explanations are always difficult, especially when the person asking the question is barely capable of going to the bathroom without help.

"I'm a fox made out of pure chakra." Kurama said, trying his best to keep the explanation simple, "There are people out there who are willing to use me without hesitation to harm other humans. I've been locked away to make sure I will not be used."

"But why me? Why are _you_ locked inside _me_?" Naruto jabbed his fingers at Kurama, then to himself.

"Because the Uzumaki Clan, what little is left of it, was known to have huge chakra reserves. And...:"

"Chakra is needed to power the prison you are in." Naruto finished for him.

Kurama was suitably impressed by Naruto's power of deduction.

"Naruto, I want to ask you something." Kurama stated, "I want you to take some time and think about your answer before you tell me ok?"

"Okay."

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Without any hesitation Naruto answered, "That's easy! I want to be Hokage!"

 _This is my surprise face._ "Why?"

"So I can be the strongest shinobi and protect people like jiji protected me."

Kurama nodded his head. _So very much like your parents. This would be what they called the 'Will of fire,' isn't it?_

"Good reason," Kurama smiled as Naruto glowed from the praise.

 _Now let's see how_ much _he knows._ "Do you know what a Hokages' job is; aside from protecting people?"

Naruto scratched his head, "Stamp paperwork?"

Kurama gave a short, barking laugh. "That's a tiny part of it, yes. Anything else?"

Naruto had now answer for him then.

 _Well he is only four years old... can't expect anything from someone who has been ignored all his life._ Kurama concluded.

"You are right in saying the Hokage is the strongest shinobi in the village; it's not the only reason he is Hokage, but it's a pretty big part of it," Kurama informed him, "Though, it will be next to impossible for you to become Hokage with the way you are now."

"Why not!? I promise I'll work hard!" Naruto pouted.

Kurama shook his head, "I know you will work hard Naruto, but that will only take you so far if you have no one to guide you. You are already behind kids your age because they have family and clan members to teach them. You have nothing."

Naruto slumped. It was true; aside from the caretakers that made him do the chakra exercises, he didn't really have any attachment to anyone else aside from the old man.

"However," Kurama said carefully, "I am willing to teach you... as long as you agree to the following three conditions:"

Naruto perked up at this. He leaned in and listened intently.

"One, you will keep our relationship a secret from everyone unless I specify otherwise. This is mostly so people will see you as you, and not the Demon Fox as you."

Naruto thought about it for a second, then nodded.

"Two, you will follow my instructions without hesitation or question at all times. You will give me your full attention in class. Wasting time, especially when someone else is helping you, is very disrespectful."

Naruto nodded again.

"Third, you will never kill or hurt someone unless you have no possible alternative."

Naruto was fine with that. He was never really full convinced of the darker aspects of the Shinobi world, even if everyone else around him had acknowledged it as common practice. He suspected sooner or later his illusions would be shattered. Having the Fox been on the same page as him in regards to violence greatly comforted him though.

"Do you agree to these conditions and form a pact with me?" Kurama asked.

Naruto nodded yet again.

"Say the worlds please." Kurama said formally.

"I..." Naruto struggled to find the words. Kurama mouthed the words at Naruto so the four year old could follow along "I... Uzumaki Naruto... agree to this pact with the conditions listed."

The entire room glowed briefly green for a second.

"Good."

Despite his young age, Naruto asked, "What do you get out of this Kurama?" Naruto had learned pretty early on nothing in life was free.

 _He's catching on fast._ Kurama thought.

"Did you know Naruto," Kurama began, "That I was created by someone who believed in peace?"

Naruto eye Kurama in silence.

"My creator believed that the power he wielded was too great, and that eventually someone would find and abuse that power. He divided his power and created us... to prevent one person from gaining and unfair advantage over men.

Naruto's eyes widened at the thought of multiple tailed beasts out there, each as powerful as Kurama.

"He died believing that humans will be able to attain peace through understanding and acceptance, by been friends to one another. I am hoping that you will be able to fulfill his desire."

Naruto nodded his head excitedly. "I'll be friends with everyone in the whole world! Believe it!"

Kurama smiled. A _bit naive... but no more than an immortal intelligent chakra entity hoping for world peace._ He mused.

"Lets seal our friendship then, I'll show you exactly how this is going to work." Naruto watched in fascination as Kurama gently pushed his hand against the cage. The protective inscriptions appeared again as he met the barrier.

"Put your right hand against the barrier like this." Kurama demonstrated by mirroring with his left hand. Naruto copied his movements.

"Gather a bit of chakra at your index finger here and push it out against the barrier like those exercises you did." Naruto complied.

"Now trace your fingers after mine." Naruto traced a long line of inscriptions across the entire length of the front cage.

As soon as he finished, the entire room, cage and all, began shaking violently.

Naruto backed up nervously as a wall of crisscrossing inscriptions appeared all over the cage and glowed blue. The inscription Naruto traced glowed green and floated off the cage to five steps in front of Naruto. The single line of inscriptions curled in on itself and formed circle in the air as the other blue inscriptions and protective wards peeled off the cage. They drifted towards the green circular inscription and began to attached themselves, each line of inscription interlocking with each other and around the circle with a series of muffled click. As the last of the inscriptions attached themselves, the cage bars retracted into the water and the cage ceiling shot upwards into the darkness.

"Now hold out your hand with your palms down."

Naruto put his left hand forward cautiously.

The green circle floated lazily downwards while reorienting itself to face the sky. It began pulsing rapidly as it made contact with the back of Naruto's hand before sinking into his skin and fading away seamlessly.

Naruto pulled his hand back and examined it. There was no sign of a seal there at all.

"What did we do just now?" Naruto asked, curious by the sealing ritual Kurama had guided him to through

"I improved on the seal that holds me inside you." Kurama said with a proud look on his face. Kurama had been nothing if not productive in the last four years, even if it was because he was bored out of his mind inside while been imprisoned inside an infant's body. "The cage that was holding me was designed so that I can't harm you or take over your body. A massive cage like that also takes a lot of chakra to maintain, YOUR chakra more specifically. This constant drain makes it extremely it difficult for you to perform any jutsu. What I've done is alter the protections wards so that you wear it like an invisible suit of armor. Observe."

Before Naruto could say anything, Kurama raised one of his arms up and swung it down against Naruto.

Naruto screamed in fright and shut his eyes.

Kurama's massive paw didn't touch him. It was held in place by an invisible spherical barrier a feet away from Naruto's head.

Naruto glared. "That was mean!" Naruto shouted.

"Forgive me, forgive me," Kurama laughed. "But as you can see, the seal prevents me from doing any harm to you. Now, take your right hand and placed it on top of your left. Good. Push a little bit of chakra out your right palm..."

As Naruto did so, the green inscription circle appeared and floated slightly above his left hand.

"Now twist it gently clockwise... there that's good, now pull your hands apart." Kurama instructed.

Naruto turned the circle slightly. The circle glowed and pulsed lightly before sinking back onto his skin and disappearing. Naruto look puzzled.

"Now watch what I can do."

The space in between Naruto and Kurama suddenly exploded outwards with smoke. When the smoke cleared, there was a simple wood desk and chair.

Naruto looked at the furniture, then back at Kurama. It was pretty anti-climatic.

"You... can make furniture now?" Naruto was disappointed.

Kurama sighed. "Not impressed are we? Stand still please."

Kurama closed his eyes and inhaled.

A lound rumbling in the ground almost caused Naruto to lose his balance and stumble.

The walls around him fell backwards soundlessly, the horizon now dark in all directions. The water drained away into the cracks on the ground before it fell away into total abyss. For a few terrifying moments Naruto was standing on nothingness. A green speck rushed upwards from the darkness below and expanded outwards at an incredible pace. The landscape beneath him slowed, then stopped as it made contact with Naruto's feet.

Naruto found himself on the white shores of a glittering blue lake. Green plains with gentle rolling hills stretched in every direction beyond the lake and populated by ankle high grass. Naruto looked upwards and was greeted by a dazzling array of stars set against a cloudless, dark blue sky. A gentle breeze washed over him and swept the grass back in waves. Glowing insects danced and and fluttered in the air near the grass. Naruto stared in wonder.

Kurama grinned and looked down at the awed Naruto. _Still got it._

"This is just a tiny bit of what I can do now."

Naruto nodded dumbly.

"This is beautiful." Naruto spoke finally. "It feels so _real._ " He said as he squatted down and grabbed a fistful of the glittering, white sand.

Kurama felt his ego grow. Just a little bit.

"Wait one second, I'm going to change my size so we can speak as equals."

Kurama blew out an extended breath, deflating in size as more and more rushed out of his mouth.

Naruto stared at Kurama in amazement again as the mountain sized fox shrank quickly into something that was closer to the average house cat. Kurama 's appearance stayed roughly the same, except his eyes were disproportionately larger compared to the rest of his body. His nine-tails were also dramatically shorter and wider, with the consistency of a soft downy pillow. He was in short, a cat-sized plushie toy.

Kurama got off his haunches and trotted over to Naruto."Now we can begi-"

Naruto cut him off at the sight of the adorable talking plushie, "OHMYGODITSSOCUTEIWANTTOSQUEEZEITANDHOLDIT-"

A vein popped up above Kurama's right eye. A blur of something _orange_ slapped Naruto across the face.

"What was that for!? I thought you said the seal protected me!" Naruto shouted as Kurama slowly retracted one of his extended tails.

"Nothing can protect you from your own stupidity." Kurama stated firmly, "I am here to push you as hard as you can as fast as you can. If you want to become Hokage, you need to start NOW. At your age the previous Hokages had already decided on their specialization and started learning basic jutsus." Kurama informed him

Naruto gasped, "They were already learning jutsus?"

Kurama nodded, "Indeed. They didn't become Hokage by being the best paper stamper in the world; they became Hokages because they were powerful and everyone knew it. However, strength comes in many forms," Kurama tapped his head with his finger, "How you use the right power, how much power to use... those are all lessons you need to learn before you take on the world."

Naruto nodded in understanding. Strength was just another piece that made up the whole puzzle, he'll need to study just as hard as he trains.

"You will get strong, I promise you that. We'll start out with the basics first however. One must learn to crawl before he sprints." Kurama said sagely."I will start by explaining this world to you since you will be spending a lot of time here. As I said before, this world exists inside your head. The first thing you should know is that time here passes slower compared to the outside."

"How much slower?"

"About four times, though we can stretch it out to eight if necessary."

"So this means..."

"This means you will have a lot of time to acquire the knowledge you need, from the basics like reading and writing to more advanced things like specific clan practices and etiquette. By the time you graduate from the Academy, you should have a huge advantage compared to kids your age."

"That doesn't really seem fair to the rest of them." Naruto frowned.

 _Still going on about fairness I see..._ "You are a shinobi." Kurama stated simply, as if that was all the answer he needed. And it really was too. "If it's any consolation, think of it as a balance for having private tutors and family members to teach them."

Naruto conceded the point.

"I've also altered the laws in this world slightly." Kurama redirected Naruto's attention, "Everything here right now is a perfect reflection of the real world. The way the wind blows, the volume of water, the speed at which things fall to the Earth... things like that. This will allow you to practice jutus, sealing, trapping, and various katas while you sleep. However, you will still need to perform experimental jutsus in the real world. I cannot simulate something that I have no experience with."

"That makes sense. Are we doing anything else when I am awake?"

"Growing mostly."

Naruto blinked.

Kurama elaborated, "You need to grow physically. You need to develop muscles, grow taller, improve your stamina as well as your chakra pool..."

"Well... I won't grow just because I want to." Naruto stated.

"Most of it involves doing the right exercises. I will do what I can to help your body mature slightly faster, just enough to make it seem like you have an early growth spurt, but not enough to arouse any suspicions. You'll also need to eat properly, which means I will teach you how to cook."

Kurama didn't trust any of the prepared food the villager might sell or 'gift' to Naruto.

"Cooking? Like with fire? That sounds fun!"

"It's fun as long as you don't burn the kitchen down."

"Please... what do you take me for?" Naruto retorted confidently.

 _Your mother's son._ Kurama thought back to Kushina's failed brownies.

"Something else you will need to 'grow' in the real world is a healthy reputation. You need to cultivate allies, form allies, maybe even meet a girl and start a family, solidify your lineage..."

"Girls are gross!" Naruto turned his nose up at Kurama. _Just like Kushina... But she sang a different tune at the end... They all do..._

"Tastes change. Has no one given you the talk before?" Kurama tilted his head in curiosity as his tails started to wave.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto raised his eyebrows.

Kurama smiled and held his hands out.

Two small puffs of smoke appeared from on his hands. When the smoke cleared there were two small fox plushies facing each other. One had red fur, the other gold.

"You see Naruto, when a mommy fox and a daddy fox loves each other very much..." He began as he moved the two foxes towards each other.

Naruto's eyes went wide with primordial horror. He was absolutely positive this is something he didn't need to know about, irregardless of the fact that he might gain some insight into the mystery that is his parents. He brought his hands to his ears and started chanting.

"LALALA I'M NOT LISTENING I'M NOT LISTENING..."

Kurama roared with laughter as he tossed the plushies in the air and they puffed out of existence.

Naruto lowered his hands and glared at him. Kurama's laughter died down, "You're about a decade too early for this education anyway."

Naruto said nothing but muttered "Ero-kitsune" underneath his breath.

"What was that?" Kurama demanded.

"Nothing." Naruto sang sweetly.

"That's what I thought. When I meant building a reputation, I mean doing tasks or solving problems in such a way as to leave a lasting positive impression on people. So this way when the time comes for the next Hokage is chosen, people will have a favourable opinion of you. Having friends and allies will also help by as they would vouch for you when you are not around."

Naruto nodded. He would love to have a big circle of friends. He turned his attention back to Kurama he was still talking.

" -I will also be working on some things while you are growing."

That got Naruto's curiosity, "What will you be working on?"

"Oh, this and that...I have some people in this world who I need to contact. They might be able to help you achieve your dreams, they might not. But I do need to find out first."

"Who are they? What are they like? What do they do? Will I meet them?" Naruto rapidly fired off a series of questions.

Kurama held up his hand to stop Naruto "Most of them gather information. There are also a few who do more than gather information... I'll let you know when I have some good news."

"Do you trust them?" A _Good question._ Kurama smiled, "Yes... I trust them absolutely. You can even say... we are of one mind." Kurama laughed inwardly at his own joke.

Naruto was slightly puzzled at Kurama's answer, but decided he will ask him more later.

"Okay Naruto, it's almost time for you to go. Once you get back to the real world I will you to do a couple of things so we can get started right away. But don't forget about your promise either!" Kurama reminded him.

"Don't worry! I never break my promises! Believe it!" Naruto gave Kurama a thumbs up followed by a nice guy pose.

 _Oh brother._ Kurama rolled his eyes.

Naruto stuck out his hand at Kurama expectantly. Kurama stared at it.

"Friends?" Naruto asked.

"Friends." Kurama stated in the affirmative.

An impossibly huge grin formed on Naruto's face which Kurama returned.

"You know kit, I think this the beginning of a beautiful partnership."

* * *

Naruto stirred from his sleep. The bed he laid on was so soft he felt like he was sinking into it. Fighting the urge to indulge, he threw up his hands and yawned loudly as he sat up. Naruto surveyed his surroundings; he was in a hospital room. The bed occupied dominated the middle of the plaster white room; to the left of the bed, there was with a small coffee table and two sofa chairs facing each other. The right side of the room held a brown wooden door and no other furniture. Two large windows, one next to the sofas and one across from the bed, were covered with beige curtains and provided muted lighting.

Naruto poured himself a cup of water from the pitcher on the nightstand next to his bed and drank noisily. Naruto put his left foot down first before gently transferring weight to his right to test his ankle. He breathed a sign of relief as he felt no pain. Naruto walked over to the window across from the bed and drew back the curtains. He shielded his eyes as the room filled with brilliant sunlight.

The window offered an unobstructed view of Konoha's central avenue. The scene was quite subdued in comparison to the excitement of last night's festivities. Small groups of janitors and sweepers in blue and green dotted the village circle, leaving behind a path of cleanliness as they wandered about in seemingly random direction. Light sounds of hammering and sawing filled the air as various vendors broke their stalls down and loaded them onto ox carts.

Naruto brought up his left hand and gazed at the back of it. There was no sign of the seal.

 _What a strange dream._ He thought.

 _It WASN'T a dream, and don't you forget about your promises kit._ A voice said.

Naruto looked around and asked the empty air, "Kurama?"

 _Just think in clear sentences and I'll understand what you are saying. No point in letting people think you talk to yourself._

Naruto thought to himself. _Is this better?_

 _I knew you would get the hang of it quick! Wait, someone is coming._

 _Is it danger?_ Naruto asked.

 _I don't sense any hostile intent. You should be fine._

A gentle knock on the door made Naruto jump.

"Naruto?" A familiar voice called out from behind the door.

Naruto turned to see an Anbu agent with a dog mask holding the door open for Sarutobi. The old man was wearing the official red Hokage kimono and white overcoat he was commonly seen in. He took off his official hat and smiled at Naruto as he tepped into the room. The agent closed the door behind Sarutobi to give them a measure privacy.

"Hey old man!" Naruto greeted Sarutobi happily. He sprang across the room in three steps to give him a hug.

Sarutobi hugged Naruto back and set him down. He smiled and ruffled the young boys hair.

"Ho ho ho, good morning Naruto. How are you doing today?" He asked and leaned over, "Are you feeling any pain at all?"

"Nope! I'm perfectly fine!" Naruto proclaimed and demonstrated his by running circles around Sarutobi.

Sarutobi smiled slightly slightly. _Perhaps its because thanks to the Fox...?_

Naruto slowed down and stopped in front Sarutobi. He looked down and asked nervously, "I'm... I'm not in any trouble am I?"

"What? Oh no, no not at all. I just wanted to see how you were doing. And if would be great if you could tell me what you remembered from last night." Sarutobi smiled and gestured to the sofa chairs.

As Naruto and Sarutobi settled into the seats opposite one another, Sarutobi called out. "Dog, can you bring me some tea please?"

Naruto's stomach growled loudly and Sarutobi laughed.

"And find the boy some breakfast while you're at it please? Make it a good one."

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" Came the response from the behind the door.

"Now that I know you are fine, why don't you tell me everything that happened last night?"

"You promise I won't get in any trouble?" Naruto asked.

"I promise Naruto. Now go on."

 _Remember your promise._ Kurama reminded him gently in the back of his mind.

"Well, last night I was trying to sleep but all these explosions in the sky woke me up. And I really wanted to see what all the noise was so I snuck out from the orphanage an..."

"Wait, no one saw you?"

"Well yea, 'cause I didn't use the door. I climbed out of the window on the roof."

"How did you get down from there?" Sarutobi was aghast as he recalled that the bedrooms were on the second floor of the orphanage.

"There were these new pipes that lets the water flow out all at the same place, so I grabbed one and slid down..."

On one hand, Sarutobi was horrified that a four year old had done something so dangerous as to climb down from a drainage pipe without supervision. On the other hand, he forced himself to admit the kid had shown real talent by adapting to the environment to get what he wanted; not that he would ever tell Naruto that though.

Dog reappeared next to the coffee table with a large black tray broke. On the tray was a glass of milk, a white dish with a silver plate cover, a small white pitcher with something golden inside, utensils, and a steaming green ceramic cup. Sarutobi nodded his thanks as Dog handed him the cup first.

Dog set the black tray down in front of Naruto and pulled the plate cover off. Naruto let out a loud as the plate revealed a stack of steaming golden brown pancakes.

"YES! PANCAKES! MY FAVOURITE" Naruto pumped his fists in the air in excitement.

"Thanks Mr. Dog! Thanks old man! Itadakimasu!" Naruto shouted as he poured out the syrup, grabbed the fork, and dove in.

Sarutobi took a small sip from his cup and smiled. He could sense satisfaction radiating off Dog as he retreated from the room.

"- so the fat guy with the megaphone saw me and started yelling and then everyone was yelling and chasing me and throwin' stuff and I found this house and fell asleep because I was so tired."

 _Good... He doesn't remember the worst part of what happened._

Sarutobi was curious though, "How did you know to run to my house?"

Naruto laughed nervously in between mouthfuls of pancakes, "That was your house old man?! I musta gotten real lucky huh?!"

"Yes. Kami must really be looking out for you Naruto."

 _A coincidence? Maybe... I can count the number of people who would help him out in a pinch in this village on one hand though..._ Sarutobie made up his mind. _He can't go back to the orphanage. Those villagers from last night have friends and family who would no doubt want to seek revenge against Naruto._

Sarutobi briefly toyed with the idea of bringing Naruto to live with him at the compound, but decided against such a blatant show of favouritism. Sooner or later someone will notice the likeness between the Naruto and Minato and put two and two together. Sarutobi settled on a compromise. As much as Sarutobi wanted to devote his time to Naruto, too much of it will draw the deadly sort of attention that a four year old doesn't need. He will set Naruto up in one of the apartment complexes that rents to Ninjas. This will allow him to keep an eye on Naruto without too much suspicion.

"Listen Naruto," Sarutobi began. Naruto stopped chewing as his cheeks bulged with half-eaten pancakes.

"You don't have to stop eating, just listen while you eat."

Naruto resumed chewing, but narrowed his eyes at Sarutobi.

"How would you like to live by yourself? It will be very different. ..You will need to learn how to take care of yourself, like cook food and wash clothes, but think of it as a test to see if you are capable of - "

Sarutobi was interrupted as Naruto had flown out of his seat and gave him a bear hug.

"Really old man?! Really?!" Naruto asked excitedly as a huge smile adorned his face. Pancake crumbs fell on Sarutobi as he tried to pry Naruto off.

Kurama radiated approval outwards. _We can get started on training right away._ He told Naruto.

"Yes really. We'll have lunch together every week and you can let me know how you are doing. And as I was about to say, if you stay out of trouble I'll even let you go to the academy!"

 _This is good. The pieces are falling into place._ Kurama was secretly pleased by this turn of events.

"THANKS OLD MAN!" Naruto shouted and hugged him tighter. "YOU'RE AWESOME!"

Sarutobi smiled and directed Naruto back to his pancakes.

"Naruto, I have some things to take of. Stay here for the day and try to give anyone any trouble ok? And don't sneak out anymore." He warned Naruto, who nodded as he shoved another pancake into his mouth. "I'll make the arrangements and take you to your new home this afternoon."

Sarutobi got up and moved exit the room.

Naruto smiled and waved at him, cheeks puffy with pancakes. Sarutobi waved back and went through the threshold.

"Keep guard on this room." Sarutobi said to no one in particular after he closed the door behind him. The leaves on the potted plant facing the door waved and dipped in the windless hallway.

* * *

A/N: This chapter took a lot longer to write as I don't like writing dialogue :X. Thank you for the follows and favourites. :3


	4. Learning New Things

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

 **Chapter 4: Learning New Things**

"This sucks!" Naruto said out loud as he paced restlessly back and forth in the hospital room. "I'm SOOO bored."

Thirty minutes passed since the silver-haired Dog had vanished with the empty breakfast tray and Naruto was mentally punching himself for not asking the ANBU for a deck of cards or a manga to keep himself occupied.

Kurama spoke up. _Naruto, why don't you come in here. We might as well get started on the basics._

 _How do I get back?_ Naruto asked.

 _Just find a comfortable spot and lay down. I'll take care of the rest._ Came the response.

Naruto eyed the furniture in the room.

 _Make sure its a good spot. You probably don't want to wake up with a cramp._ Kurama suggested helpfully.

Naruto opted to go back to the bed; there was no telling when he would experience this type of luxury again. As Naruto sat back down, he could feel himself sinking into the mattress. He grow heavier as the cool autumn breeze and lazy morning sun overwhelmed him.

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes to a turquoise blue sky partially obscured by brilliant sunlight. Shielding his eyes from the midday sun with his forearm, Naruto sat up in the bed of grass he found himself lying on. Despite the brilliant sunshine, the temperature of the air remained cool and comfortable.

"Welcome back." A voice from behind Naruto caused him to turn his head around. Kurama materialized out from in between the blades of grass.

Naruto pivoted his sitting position so he was facing Kurama and smiled. "Thanks for getting me outta that room! What're we going to do first?"

"I want to start by evaluating your chakra control. Here," Kurama swiped half a handful of grass from the ground and handed it to Naruto, who groaned slightly. "Put a blade of grass on your forehead and keep it there without your hands."

Naruto laughed. "Easy, I can do this in my sleep."

"So show me." Kurama countered.

The exercise was a variation to the leaf concentration exercise taught at the academy; students were required to keep a leaf on their forehead as a means of concentrating their chakra at a particular focal point. But because a single blade of grass occupied a much smaller surface area, who ever was practicing the technique had to be more precise in focusing their chakra.

Naruto reached up and placed a single blade of grass on his forehead, and stared upwards as it stayed right where he placed it.

Kurama nodded in approval, "Good, good..." He stared in fascination as Naruto placed six more blades of grass equally spaced apart on his forehead.

 _Interesting._

A jutsu was a two step process; a typical shinobi needed to mould chakra first and then manifest the desired jutsu, which is done by performing hand seals. It was also possible to perform seal-less jutsu through extensive practice and/or if an individual was gifted with strong will. Developing multiple chakra focal points essentially cut down the preparation time for a jutsu in half since a user only needed time to manifest the desired jutsu and not spend time moulding the chakra.

 _And if the kit has a strong will like his mother..._

"Naruto, when did you learn to do that?" Kurama asked.

"What do you mean?" Naruto stared upwards as he kept the seven blades of grass glued to his forehead, "I learned this at the orphanage."

"They don't teach you to hold more than one leaf at a time, let alone seven." Kurama stated.

"It just... feels right you know? It's kinda like pouring a cup of water, except instead of one cup, you pour seven cups at the same time." Naruto explained to the best of his abilities.

 _So he's doing it subconsciously then. Instead of splitting his concentration seven times, he is just duplicating the same concentration seven times._

Kurama contemplated if Naruto's seemingly _casual_ affinity with Chakra was a freakish combination of his own chakra influence, the Uzumaki clan's gift of monstrous chakra pools, and Namikaze clan's natural inclination for all things related to shinobi techniques.

 _He has unlimited potential_. Kurama thought. He felt like he was gazing upon a brilliant echo of his creator.

"Awww!" Naruto cried disappointingly as the grass fell off his forehead. "So, how did I do?" Naruto looked back at Kurama.

"Good. Very good." Kurama admitted. _Credit where credits due._ "You have the basic exercise down, so lets move on to the next step."

Three saplings sprouted up from the ground behind him. The saplings shot towards the sky and thickened into thick trunks as branches grew out quickly in all directions. As the trees stopped their growth, the barren branches exploded with a vibrant green as leaves burst forth from the branches.

"You will now climb a tree." Kurama instructed.

Naruto frowned. He _knew_ how to climb a tree; he hadn't spent all those days in the forest by himself without picking up _something_ useful.

His frown was soon replaced by open mouthed surprise as Kurama walked casually up the tree and sat on the first branch. He looked down at Naruto expectantly.

"Naruto, I want to see if you can figure out how to perform the exercise for yourself. Observation, awareness, and application of knowledge are important lessons you must learn for yourself, regardless of whether or not you are a shinobi. I will demonstrate again for you." With that Kurama jumped off the tree and walked back up, slowly this times as Naruto moved in close and observed where Kurama's feet made contact with the tree trunk.

Naruto took two steps back, folded his arms and closed his eyes to contemplate what he saw.

Remembering that this was an exercise, Naruto came to the conclusion Kurama was performing a variation of the leaf exercise.

 _Ah. So that's how you do it._ Naruto nodded in realization. _Instead of attaching a grass to my forehead, I'm attaching myself to the tree._

Naruto unfolded his arms and let it hang lose down his side. He kept his eyes closed in concentration while focusing a small amount of chakra at his feet. Naruto's eyes snapped open and he moved confidently to the tree and planted his left foot on the bark.

...And promptly slipped and fell on his back. Kurama held his laughter back. He had never met or seen any human succeed on the first try anyway.

 _Maybe I should use more chakra?_ Naruto thought as he stood back up and stared at where he lost his step. Dusting himself off, he closed his eyes once again and focused chakra at his feet, this time pouring quite a bit more chakra than the previous attempt. Naruto planted his left foot firmly on the trunk again

...And flew back a good five meters as the trunk underneath his feet exploded. Naruto sputtered as fine wood dust floated in the air.

"You are on the right track," Kurama encouraged him from atop the branch, "The first attempt had too little chakra, the second attempt too much."

Naruto nodded and walked back to the starting point. He concentrated chakra at his feet again, this time pouring slightly less chakra into his feet. He cautiously planted his left foot against the trunk again. The trunk groaned and the bark bent inward slightly, but did not explode as Naruto eased more weight on. Seeing that his foot was sticking to the trunk, Naruto concentrated the same amount of chakra on his right foot and pushed himself off the ground. He found himself staring upwards into the tree and parallel to the ground.

Kurama nodded his approval as Naruto slowly and carefully worked his way up to the branch where Kurama was sitting, one foot at a time. Naruto sat down next to him and grinned.

"Excellent. You are making good progress. Something you should be aware of is that the amount of chakra necessary will depend on _what_ you are trying to climb, and will also be dependent on how _heavy_ you are and how _fast_ you are moving." Kurama laid out the fundamental knowledge regarding the exercise.

Naruto nodded, "That makes sense. Can I practice a bit more?"

"Of course." Kurama hopped off the branch and landed silently. The ground rumbled slightly as a flat concrete wall two meters wide rose up out of the ground. A second wall made of glass rose and joined the concrete. A third wall of solid soil rose up beside the glass.

"Try using these different walls for practice. Once you are confident with walking up on these walls, try running." A yellow backpack puffed into existence at the base of the concrete wall. "That is a special backpack that will change weight every minute; put that on before you start."

Naruto hopped off the branch and slipped the backpack on. He moved over to the concrete wall and placed his foot on the surface...

* * *

Kurama called an end to the exercise once he saw that Naruto mastered the wall climbing exercise. Naruto was now capable running up all of the walls with the backpack and not leaving a mark behind, which is kind of important for any active shinobi.

"It's strange, how come I don't feel tired at all?" Naruto asked as Kurama took the backpack from him with one of his tails.

"Because this space is just a very good imitation of real life. You can't really get tired if your body doesn't do any real work." Kurama told him, "It's perfect for learning and practicing what we already know, but the best way to find out your limits or test an experimental jutsu is doing it in real life. Now, lets move on to the last exercise. Follow me."

Kurama didn't feel the urge to tell Naruto that he would experience mental exhaustion all the same; Kurama's gift of regeneration made it all a moot point anyway.

Naruto followed as Kurama led him up and over the hill behind the trees. As they reached the top of the hill Naruto saw the crystal blue lake again. Kurama led him down to the pristine white shores.

"This is the last exercise we will do for now. Observe closely." Kurama stepped out on to the water. Instead of sinking or getting wet, his foot stayed level and slightly above the water. Naruto could see a faint depression where Kurama's foot made invisible contact with the water surface. Kurama walked for twenty paces, turned around, and sat on his haunches facing Naruto. "Give it a try."

Naruto folded his arms and thought back to the last exercise. _This should be similar to tree climbing. If I use too little chakra, I'll slip and get wet, and if I use too much, the water will splash everywhere..._

Using the knowledge he gained from the previous exercise and what Kurama had said about different materials requiring different chakra amounts, Naruto poured just a tiny bit of Chakra into his feet; water wasn't solid so it shouldn't take as much effort. Naruto smiled as he lowered his foot towards the water surface, but frowned as it got wet anyway He repeated again, this time observing the water more closely. The water near the surface was pushed down as the chakra made contact, but the water surrounding the depression quickly rushed into fill the gap.

 _If it keeps flowing back, then I will need to keep pushing down._ Naruto put his foot forward again; however this time he bled out a constant amount of chakra from the soles of his feet.

 _Yes!_ Naruto let out a tiny cheer inside him as his foot met firm resistance on the water. He put his right foot forward. _Gently, gently._

Kurama watched with amusement as Naruto stumbled haphazardly towards him on the lake. Ten paces in, Kurama threw the backpack at Naruto.

"Here! Think fast!"

Naruto's eyes widened as he scrambled and lunged for the airborne backpack. He managed to grab one of the straps as he lost chakra concentration before falling face first into the lake with a shout. Naruto flailed wildly and sent water everywhere as his entire body sank into the lake with a loud _plunk._ He came back up sputtering for air a moment later to find Kurama rolling on the water in laughter.

"Laugh it up furball." Naruto grumbled as Kurama picked up a very wet and miserable 4 year old and his backpack while walking back to the shore.

"Sorry, sorry." Kurama apologized with a twinkle in his eye as Naruto shot him an icy glare from behind, "It was just too good of an opportunity to pass up. Besides, a shinobi should always be alert for unexpected surprises."

Naruto mentally made a note to get the demon fox back as Kurama continued, "Practice this a bit more like with the climbing exercises. Try running again after you are confident with walking. You should be able to do this without thinking once you've mastered it, much like the previous exercise."

Naruto nodded as Kurama help slip the backpack back on to Naruto with two of his tails. He focused the chakra at his feet again and walked cautiously towards the water...

* * *

Naruto's eyes fluttered open the same instant a knock came on the door. He rolled to face the door as it opened and Sarutobi stuck his head in. It was the afternoon already.

"Hey Naruto, you ready to get out of here?" He asked with a smile.

"Yeah!" Naruto cheered, "I was so bored while you were gone jiji!" Naruto threw off the covers and hopped down from the bed. He put on his sandals and grabbed Sarutobi's hand. The aging Hokage guided the young demon container out the door and down the hall towards past the reception area.

Doctors and nurses nodded at Sarutobi in respect and glanced at Naruto in nervous curiosity as they filed past. Though they didn't show it, the hospital staff was extremely grateful none of the destructive rumors regarding the young boy was true. A few even revised their opinion of the child since his quiet deamnor directly contradicted the warning and whisperings of the civilian council.

Sarutobi guided Naruto out of the large set of glass doors in the front entrance. They walked in the direction of the Hokage tower and arrived at their destination two blocks and five minutes later.

The first thought that came to Naruto as he took in the building in front of him was how extremely _unassuming_ it was. The building was so plain it could have been uprooted and dropped off in Suna or Kumo and no one would have been wiser. Whoever painted the apartment obviously had an overabundance of beige and red roof tiles. There were no windows on the first floor, only a set of wooden doors that gave way to a front office, which in turn blocked off access to a carefully maintained central garden.

Dog materialized and opened the front entrance for Sarutobi and Naruto. The office they entered featured cheap blue carpeting, a faded wooden counter that looked way past its prime, and two circular wooden tables with a pair of chairs each. Naruto felt the urge to explore, but Sarutobi held on to him tightly as he walked up to the counter and rang a rusty service bell.

A wiry, skinny old man popped up from behind the desk. To Naruto, the man was positively ancient; he had a battered look about him accompanied by a receding grey hairline. His face was lined with wrinkles and age spots. Despite his advanced age, Naruto could felt as it the old man radiated... dignity.

The man bowed politely to Sarutobi, "Welcome Hokage-sama." Sarutobi nodded politely in return and the old man turned his attention to Naruto, "And this must be young Naruto. Welcome, young Naruto. My name is Katashi Mori, I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

Naruto stared. Katashi was completely sincere in his statements. Naruto froze as he was unaccustomed to people who didn't shy away from him or or shoot him dirty looks.

 _Come on Naruto. Be polite._ Kurama urged.

Naruto realized Sarutobi and Katashi were staring at him. Naruto took the cue and bowed. He then stuck out his hand at Katashi.

"I am pleased to meet you. Mori-sama."

The old landlord flashed a toothy smile in approval.

"Please follow me, I will show you to your new home." Katashi led Sarutobi and Naruto out into the carefully manicured courtyard filled with bonsai trees and up two flights of stairs to the third floor.

"This complex is dedicated to the needs of the Konoha shinobi force; no civilians other than janitors and repairman are permitted. As such, security and noise is not really an issue."

It was true. Though most genin kept normal business hours, once a shinobi made it to chunin working odd hours became a universal, unsaid job requirement. And because shinobi kept such a different schedule, this meant there were at least a dozen shinobi in various states of alertness in the complex at any given time. Any fool who would incur the wrath of the shinobi in their own home often met painful ends.

Sarutobi hoped that this will keep the the vengeful villagers away. Assuming the shinobi living here accept Naruto as one of their own.

"Here we are." Katashi stopped in front of room 306 and unlocked it. "The Anbu came by earlier to drop off your personal belongings." Naruto laughed a little. Whatever belongings he 'had' could fit in a small potato sack.

I hope you find this to your liking." Katashi opened the door and stepped aside to let Sarutobi and Naruto in.

Naruto grinned as he examined his new studio apartment. The entrance opened up to a medium-size beige-carpeted living area twice the size of his room back at the orphanage. It contained a small wooden coffee table and a brown, L-shaped sofa facing an empty counter. Behind the sofa was a bare, sheet-less queen sized bed flanked by a pair of white nightstands. A closet with a sliding door faced the bed on the right wall. Opposite the living room was a white-tiled bathroom with a the standard porcelain toilet and sink. A metal shower head which drained into the corner of the room rounded out the bathroom furnishings. There was a medium sized kitchen with a metal sink, two burner stoves, plenty of counter space, and numerous cabinets in the back left corner of the studio apartment.

 _This will be adequate for our cooking lessons._ Kurama stated as he spied the kitchen area from Naruto's eyes.

Sarutobi walked over to the bed and threw open the curtains by the bed. Naruto gasped as the window provided him with an unobstructed view of the Hokage tower and the monument.

"This is great." Naruto murmured happily.

Sarutobi nodded to Katashi, who handed Naruto the keys.

"Please remember other shinobi live in this building as well; be courteous to your neighbors and keep the noise level to a minimum. The complex will also be getting an upgrade to take advantage of electricity in the near future. I will let you know when we have a set date for the upgrade."

Naruto nodded earnestly as Katashi handed him the keys. Katashi bowed to Sarutobi and shuffled out the door, "Please enjoy your stay." He bowed once more and closed the door behind him.

Sarutobi watched Naruto went over to the bed and started hopping up and down. He laughed at the scene. This was something that is more fitting for a 4 year old. He enjoyed the scene of normalcy for another minute before remembering his duties.

Sarutobi called out, "Naruto, I have to take care of some more paperwork back at the Tower. How about I pick you up around six and we can have dinner."

Naruto jumped off the bed and and landed in front of Sarutobi in one leap before squeezing the old man in tight hug. "Sure jiji. Thanks again!"

Sarutobi hugged back with a smile and closed the door behind him as he left, leaving Naruto alone in his new home.

 _You should find some paper and pencil._ Kurama piped up.

 _What for?_ Naruto asked.

 _You need to make a list of things you need to buy since you are going to be living here from now on and you don't have caretakers anymore;_ Kurama stated. _Toilet paper, toothbrush, blankets, pots and pans, cooking utensils, clothes that won't get you killed..._

 _Wait,_ Naruto interrupted. _Go back to that last part._ _What's wrong with my clothes?_

 _Are shinobi supposed to be stealthy?_ Kurama asked, sounding bored.

 _Well Of course dummy!_ Naruto answered.

 _And WHAT part of the color orange screams stealth?_ Kurama demanded.

 _Whatever, orange will the be the last things the bad guys see before they fall over._ Naruto said confidently.

 _...with laughter._ Kurama tacked on.

Naruto gritted his teeth. The fox had a point. Naruto liked orange because it attracted attention, but a real shinobi isn't in the business of attracting attention unless he or she wanted to. Those who did had spectacularly short careers.

 _Fine. You made your point._ Naruto conceded reluctantly.

Naruto could feel a faint sense of satisfaction come from within, but ignored it.

 _You need to ask the Hokage to set you up with a bank account by the way. You don't have any money to your name, and for now you are just going to have to get by on his good graces._

Naruto frowned slightly. Though he was only four, Naruto had his pride and didn't really like handouts, completely ignoring the fact he is already staying at a nice apartment on Sarutobi's expense. He told Kurama as much.

 _If you want, we can save some of the allowance money and invest it. You can pay the old man back several times over by the time he retires._ Kurama suggested.

That was a good idea. If he can make money for the old man, then its not really a handout... it would be more like the old man is making a long time investment in _him._

 _You should probably ask him for a library card, and maybe find out if there is a private place you can go to train. Oh, we need to check..._

Naruto hurriedly located a pencil and paper on the nightstand next to the bed, and started scribbling furiously as Kurama rattled off the things they will be needing. They had work to do.

* * *

Naruto skipped down the stone paved street in the market district beneath the orange colored evening skies. Sarutobi and two Anbu followed close behind. Market district hadn't changed much since Konoha's founding, it was consistently packed with tourists and villagers looking to shop and dine, especially at dinner time.

"Hey Naruto! Do you know where you are going?" Sarutobi called out from behind.

"I sure do!" He twisted his body and flashed the Hokage a quick thumbs-up.

 _Is there a reason why you lied just now?_ Kurama asked.

 _I'm not blind Kurama. I can feel the gazes of those restaurant owners. They would probably spit in my food while I'm not looking. And while I don't really care I can't take the risk of them doing the same to the old man._ Naruto answered. _So I gotta find a restaurant that doesn't hate me._

 _Heh. I'll give you a hand then._

All of a sudden Naruto felt his awareness multiply ten fold.

"Wha-" He put his hand to his head as he slowed to a walk. Too much information was coming in too fast.

He could hear the loud conversations between drunk villagers,

"99 bottles of sake on the wall~ 99 bottles of sake, take one down, pass it 'round' -"

the nonsensical ramblings of gossiping grandmothers,

"You hear the latest gossip out of Kumo? So apparently-"

and the whispered insults of the restaurant owners and hostesses.

"It's that brat, I can't wait for him to come in here so I can-"

Naruto slowed his breathing to calm himself. He thought back to what Kurama told him about not giving any power to words, and felt the insults drift around, through, and past him. A few seconds later he managed a smile and started skipping again.

Kurama frowned on the inside. He had underestimated the resentment of the villagers towards Naruto, who was busy filtering out the insults and feeling the general intent behind the words.

 _Shinobi or not, no four year old should be subject to this kind of mental abuse._ Kurama was about to apologize to Naruto for giving him heightened senses when Naruto turned left into a smaller side street.

"There!" Naruto said loudly as he pointed towards a wooden shop and ran to it.

Kurama focused on the wooden two story shop in front of them. He felt a distinct lack of malice as Naruto made his way to the shop. The shop had a large water tank on the roof and two gas canisters outside; it gave off a very mom and pop feel. Kurama spied the words on the shop as Naruto hopped onto one of the serving stools.

 _Ramen Ichiraku huh? Well. I hope their food is good, its been a while since I've had ramen._

"Two specials!" Naruto shouted as a smiling Sarutobi took the empty seat next to the hyperactive four year old.

"YOSH!" Came the enthusiastic response from the pair behind the counter. The server was a slender, pale-skinned girl with dark brown hair and black eyes. The main cook, whom Naruto assumed to be the proprietor, was a solidly built man with tanned skin and dark grey hair. He had a slightly round face, with just a hint of wrinkles creeping in around the cheeks. Both wore white robes; the only difference was the cook had a small serving hat, while the girl wore a white bandanna which held her hair back. Naruto watched the pair expertly go about their craft and was not disappointed as two fresh bowls of beef katsu ramen landed in front of Naruto and Sarutobi in three minutes flat.

"Enjoy!" The chef smiled warmly without any hint of hesitation at Naruto and Sarutobi.

 _It's safe to eat._ Kurama told Naruto. _I followed their movement the entire time._

"Itadakimasu!" Naruto cheered loudly as he took a pair of chopsticks and bit into the beef katsu.

It was glorious. Naruto had never tasted anything so good in his life. The lightly-peppered, flaky outer crust of the meat gave way easily to the soft tender core. Naruto took a bite of the noodles and drank a little bit of the broth. The noodles were firm, yet yielding; and the broth...salted just enough to give it flavor, but not enough to overwhelm the noodles and the meat.

Tears of joy ran down Naruto's cheeks. He was undergoing a religious experience.

"Why are you crying Naruto?" Sarutobi looked over in concern.

"It's sooooooo gooooooood! This is the beat meal I've ever had! I'm worried I'll never be able to eat this again!" Naruto wailed.

The cook from behind the counter laughed heartily, "Don't you worry my young friend! As long as I have customers like you I will never stop cooking!"

Sarutobi patted Naruto's head, "You heard him. This place isn't going any where. Now eat your fill."

Naruto nodded and started packing it away.

* * *

Sarutobi stared as Naruto finished his sixth bowl.

"Wow. That must be some kind of record." The cook said in amazement as he scratched his head.

"Whoo! I'm stuffed." Naruto said as he finished off the broth and put the bowl on the counter. "Thanks for a great meal old man! I'll be sure to come back tomorrow!"

The cook smiled. "The name is Teuchi kid. And this is my daughter Ayame." Ayame nodded with a smile. "What's your name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto!"

"Well now, you have a good evening, young Naruto. We'll see you back here tomorrow!" Teuchi and Ayami waved as Naruto and Sarutobi got up to leave.

"Thanks for the meal, Teuchi-san and Ayame nee-chan!" Naruto waved back.

When Sarutobi dropped Naruto back off at the apartment, Naruto gave him another hug.

"Thanks for the meal old man!"

"Don't mention it." Sarutobi muttered, "Really, don't remind me again." His wallet was a lot lighter now.

"Say jiji," Naruto began with a twinkle in his eye, "Do you think you can help me out with some things?"

Sarutobi did not particularly care for Naruto's scheming expression, "What do things do you need help with?" He asked cautiously.

Naruto took out a list out of his pocket and put on some reading glasses.

 _Wait, where did he get those glasses?!_

"Oh nothing that's too troubling for a Hokage I'd imagine; just a bank account since I'm not old enough to set one up, maybe some easy missions that I can do to help pay for things, a library card, may be a private training area..."

Sarutobi put one hand over his face as Naruto went down the list one item at a time.

 _What did I get myself into?_

* * *

Naruto found himself sitting in the mindscape back at the edge of the lake. The moon hung brightly above the hill and provided subdued illumination.

"Hey Naruto!" Kurama materialized out of the grass in front of him.

"Hey Kurama. Are we going to train some more?"

"Yes. I wanted to apologize first thought for raising your awareness like that. I shouldn't have done that without asking you first." Kurama said remorsefully.

Naruto understood the real meaning behind Kurama's words. "Hey don't worry about it. I know you were just trying to help. Besides, it's like you said, words are just words. I'll let my actions speak for me!"

Kurama returned the grin, "That's the spirit! As a reward I'll teach you a jutsu!"

Naruto pumped his arms up into the air. "YES! What am I learning?"

Kurama beckoned to Naruto and they sat down facing each other.

"Now pay attention." Naruto leaned in close as Kurama began his explanation. "Your very first jutsu is a ninjutsu called henge. This technique allows the user to transform into any shape or person by using chakra. The hand signs are dog, boar, and ram in sequence."

Kurama used four of his tails and manipulated Naruto's fingers to each shape.

"Go through those signs in sequence while I talk."

Naruto obediently begain forming the hand seal sequence repeatedly.

"This technique is used primarily for gathering information as it allows the user to blend in with their surroundings. The key to this technique is creativity and experience. If you are just transforming into a random person, then the only thing you have to worry about it creating a consistent persona for that person. If you want to transform into someone everyone will recognize, like the Hokage, for instance, then you need to emulate every aspect of his behavior. The success of your transformation depends largely on your skill in awareness and observation."

Kurama continued as Naruto nodded.

"Chakra usage for this technique will vary depending on your transformation target. Transforming into something that is similar to your shape and mass won't take much effort. Transforming into something small like a shoe or something large like a house will take a large amount of chakra. One of the drawbacks of this technique is that it will drain your chakra constantly to maintain the form, and any sort of physical contact and exertion will increase that drain."

Naruto considered this information carefully.

"Thanks to your Uzumaki blood, you have enough chakra to maintain a similar sized henge for about eight hours, two to four if you are going to perform any sort of physical activities."

"Okay let's give it a try." Naruto stood up as Kurama coached him, "Visualize what you want to become... Now hold that image in your head...Focus the chakra into your hands and go through the seals, when you finish the seals push the chakra out of your hand while still holding the image in your mind.

Naruto went through the seals fairly quickly and visualized the old man as he exhaled and pushed the chakra out of his body. White smoke enveloped him as he felt the chakra coursing through his system, coating his skin, subtly altering his shape and stretching his body out. It felt slightly uncomfortable and awkward, but there was no pain.

Naruto opened his eyes as the smoke dissipated.

"Well?" He asked. Only it was not his voice, it was the tired voice of a wise leader long past his prime.

Kurama got up from where he was sitting and circled Sarutobi-Naruto. He nodded positively. Every detail was spot on, from the white robes to the red kimono underneath, to the age spots that dotted his face. Naruto even had wood striping pattern on the tobacco pipe down exactly.

"Very good Naruto, release the technique."

Naruto released the chakra coating him and felt the chakra dissipate out of his skin in another cloud of smoke. As the smoke settled he felt himself back in his normal shape.

"That is a very good impression, but lets up the ante by transforming into something different."

"What do you have in mind?"

Kurama grinned as the ground beside Naruto cracked open slightly and a line of metallic white filing cabinet rose up out of the ground. Kurama walked to the eighth cabinet and pulled open the second door with his tail. He stood on his hind legs and pulled out a series of manila folders and walked back to Naruto as the cabinets retreated back underground.

"In these folders are a series of profiles. Select one of these profiles to be your alter ego." Kurama informed him.

"Why do I need an alter ego?" Naruto asked as Kurama handed him the folders and they both sat back down.

"To level the playing field." Kurama responded, "We still have a long ways to go before the villagers will change their mind about you. Using this alter ego will allow you to buy things without worrying about quality or price."

"I dunno... that seems kind of like cheating." Naruto turned his nose up with his eyes closed.

"Heh, not even if it saves the old man money in the long run?" If Naruto was one weakness Kurama could exploit, it was his fondness for the old man. Naruto still looked skeptical.

"Look, I'll prove it to you tomorrow. But just go along with it for now."

Though still skeptical, Naruto figured he might as well put in his best effort since this was he first jutsu.

"Won't people recognize some of these profiles" Naruto asked as he opened the first folder.

"Nope. Most of these profiles were people I met a long time ago outside of the elemental nations...I seriously doubt anyone here knows who they are."

Naruto read the first profile.

 **Name: Super Sonico**

 **Age: 18**

 **Occupation: Model/Singer/Musician/Artist**

 **Description: A talented girl with musi-**

 _What kind of name is Super Sonico?_

Naruto glanced over at the attached portrait. _PINK HAIR? REALLY?_ The girl was cute no doubt, but her attractiveness build and pink hair would attract the wrong sort of attention. Naruto discarded the folder into a new pile.

On to profile number two...

 **Name: Hatsune Miku**

 **Age: 16**

 **Occupation: Model/Singer**

 **Description: A gifted sing-**

 _The name passes... but why is her hair turquoise?_ Naruto thought as he glanced at her photo. _Wait a second..._

Naruto tossed the Miku folder into a new 'maybe' pile and rifled through the rest of the profile folders quickly.

"Hey Kurama! How come all of these profiles are teenage girls?" Naruto complained loudly.

Kurama stared at him as if he had just asked the most ridiculous question in the world, "Because most shopkeepers are men, and they only have enough blood to power one of two organs."

Naruto raised his eyebrows.

"Which two organs?"

"I'll tell you when you get old. Look, just trust me on this okay?"

"Finnneeeeee." Naruto picked the profiles back up.

Profile number three...

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Naruto settled on profile number two.

Kurama nodded his approval. "Okay, whenever you are ready."

Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Kurama stared at the three foot cardboard cutout of Hatsune Miku. He buried his face into his paws.

Naruto changed back, "Okay, that was wrong." He smiled sheepishly.

"Visualize whats IN the photo, not THE photo." Kurama growled from between his paws

"Yea yea yea... stupid ero-kitsune." Naruto muttered.

He put his hands together and ran through the seals again...

* * *

A/N: I want ramen now. And don't worry, there won't be any crossovers. I'm just borrowing some character designs for Naruto to use.


	5. The Fall of Root

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

 **Chapter 5: The Fall of Root**

Naruto was giving his long shopping list a last look over on the sofa when a knock sounded on the kitchen window. Naruto looked up and saw a familiar-masked silver-haired ANBU perched outside on the small railing. The Anbu waved to him as Naruto got up and opened the window.

"Oh-hi-yo Mr. Dog! What brings you around?" Naruto greeted cheerfully.

"Hey Naruto. Hokage-Sama asked me to drop this off for you." Dog slid a brown envelope out of his flak jacket and handed it to Naruto.

"It's most of the things you asked for last night, though there are still a couple of items that still waiting for the paperwrok to catch up."

Naruto took the envelope and opened it up. There was a thousand ryo, a shiny new bank card accompanied by a green account book, and a library card with his name stamped on. Naruto and Kurama were both suitably impressed.

"Wow, the old man sure works fast!" Naruto exclaimed.

Dog shrugged, "You learn to be efficient when you face a mountain of paperwork every day."

Naruto blanched, "Is... does he really have THAT much paperwork everyday?"

"That and more, sometimes he doesn't even have enough time to get through all of them. I don't envy him in the least bit." Dog admitted to Naruto's horror.

"Well, I better get going. Ja-ne Naruto."

Dog back-flipped off the railing and bounded back towards the tower.

"Thanks Mr. Dog! See you around!" Naruto leaned out the window and waved after him.

 _Having second thoughts?_ Kurama asked amusingly as Naruto had a horrible vision of himself been suffocated underneath a pile of paperwork.

 _Just wait and see! I'll find a way to conquer paperwork!_

 _Big words for a tiny kit._ Kurama laughed.

Kurama's tone turned serious. _Before we leave, can you open up the seal slightly?_

Naruto's eyes widened. _It functions in the real world too? Wait, why do you need me to open up the seal?_

 _To answer your first question, yes it works in the real world too. However, it functions differently out here. Opening the seal out here will determine how much of my power can manifest in this world. For example, If you opened the seal all the way I will be able to manifest completely in the real world. No matter how much of the seal you open up however, I will still be bound to you and will be unable to harm you._

 _Oh._

 _And to answer your second question. I want you to open the seal up slightly because I need to get in contacts with my agents like I told you previously. Staying updated on the latest politics and the economy is the key to a successful kage, and by extension, the village._

Naruto didn't fully understand Kurama's explanation, but he could sense no ill will from his tenant.

 _Won't people be able to sense your chakra?_

 _I doubt it. The only time in the people in the village sensed my chakra was when I was manipulated by the Sharingan. The small amount of chakra that I plan on using will be devoid of any malice or rage, and is comparable to a genin using a class-E jutsu. And don't worry about not understanding the explanation. You will understand once you are older._

 _How do I open up the seal? Is it like what I did in the mind scape._

 _Exactly like it._

Naruto grinned as he channeled a small amount of chakra on his right palm and placed it over the back of his left hand. A small green translucent circle appeared, and Naruto turned it sligtly.

 _Perfect. Now hold out your right palm._

Naruto complied and watched in fascination as orange chakra oozed out of his palm. The bubble rose up slightly and coalesced into a small four legged creature. Naruto found himself staring at a palm-sized fox. The fox winked at him before turning around and hopping off his palm onto the railings. Naruto leaned out the window and caught a glimpse of the fox loping across the roof tops and splitting multiple times. The leash of foxes each peeled off in different directions as they clambered up the walls and disappeared into the forest beyond.

 _That is so cool!_

Kurama smiled. He should get updates and reports from his proxies and agents within a month, two at most. But for now though they had a shopping list to attend to.

 _Come on kit. It's high time we get going. This shopping list isn't going to fill itself!_

* * *

Naruto picked up the crisp red apple. "You said this was how much?!" He asked incredulously.

The skinny shop keeper with black hair and dark brown skin sneered at him "50 ryo! And that's because I'm giving you the special discount! If you don't like it get outta my shop!"

 _An apple wouldn't cost 50 ryo even if it was the last one in the Land of Fire._ Kurama fumed.

Naruto put the apple back down. He shoved his hands into his black cargo shorts and walked out dejectedly out of the store with his head down. He heard the laughter behind him.

"Ha! Special discount! You got him good boss!"

The same scenario played out when Naruto went to look at the weapons shop and the clothing store.

 _This really sucks! How am I going to pay the old man back if I'm going to get ripped off left and right everywhere I go?_ Naruto complained to Kurama as he walked down the street.

 _Duck in that alley._ Kurama commanded.

Naruto obeyed. Once he was in the alleyway he folded his arms against his white T-shirt.

 _Now what?_

 _I think it's time to give your first jutsu a try don't you think?_

Naruto nodded. _I guess it wouldn't hurt to try. Let's see if it really makes a difference._

Naruto ran quickly through the hand seals and disappeared in a cloud of white smoke.

* * *

Tadashi Ken tapped his fingers on the counter mindlessly at 2 in the afternoon. His three male employees were busy restocking the shelves with fruit and vegetables while chattering among themselves. Rush hour was over and they no longer had to keep up appearances for customers.

Ken looked over his record books while wearing a faint smile. Driving out the demon brat earlier sure felt good

 _Looks like its going to be another slow afternoon._ As soon as he thought that, the shop entrance opened up and the service bell rang.

"Irasshaimase!" The four men called out automatically.

A girl with turquoise hair wearing a kimono stepped cautiously into Ken's store. Utter silence descended as the male employees caught sight of the girl and turned to stare.

The slender sixteen year old perfection had long turqois hair that reached down to her knees despite the fact it was pinned up into two ponytails by red ribbons. She had a pale round face with large green eyes set between a narrow pointed nose above a small mouth. Her soft pink kimono was adorned with red and white sakura flowers.

Her soft glossy lips curved into a gentle smile as collective hearts of the male employees skipped a beat.

She bowed slightly.

"Konichiwa. My name is Hatsune Miku, and I have only recently moved into town. I was hoping one of you gentleman would be able to help me with my grocery shopping today." Her melodious voice sang out invitingly as she straightened from her bow.

The three workers looked at each other before pandemonium broke out as they fought and stumbled over each other to be the girl's 'gentleman.'

"Wait, I'll hel-"

"Ooh! Ooh! Pick me! Pick-"

A series of wet thwacks sounded and the three men fell face first into the ground in unconscious heaps.

Ken stepped over his employees and set the nail covered bat down against the counter.

He cleared his throat held out his arm. "I would be _delighted_ to help you Miku-chan."

Miku giggled and wrapped her arm around his. Tadashi felt an electric thrill run up his spine as she pressed against him and he looked down at her large, green eyes. "Thank you! Forgive me! what is your name?."

"Tadashi Ken"

"Thank you, Ken-kun." She smiled warmly as she squeezed his arm.

"Why.. why.. don't you show me your list and we'll get what you need." Tadashi stammered as they stepped over the unconscious heaps on the ground.

* * *

Ken bagged the last of the groceries nervously while Miku-chan watched him with a smile. Everything had to be perfect for his goddess. He even slipped in the brand new ginger root snacks from Whirlpool country.

"How much is it?" She asked delicately as she took out a brown envelope.

 _Quick! Flutter your eyes at him!_

 _How the HECK do I do THAT?_

 _Just Blink rapidly!_

Miku-chan smiled and fluttered her eyes at Ken when he looked up.

"Uh... there will be no... no charge!" Ken struggled to find the words. He was dangerously close to losing himself in Miku-chan's eyes, "Consider it a Welcome to Konoha gift!"

 _Seal the deal kit, give him a reward._

 _I am NOT kissing him!_

 _That's a weapon of last resort. Let him cop a feel._

 _Ugh. Fine._

"Really?! Thank you so much!" Miku-chan grabbed Ken's hand and pressed it slightly again her chest.

Ken's mouth formed into a small circle, "Oh...oh!" he stuttered as spray of blood blew out his nose onto the counter top and his eyes rolled back. The man swayed back and forth before joining the employees he betrayed.

 _Flawless victory!_

Miku-chan stuck her tongue out at the unconscious perverts and swiped the bagged groceries off the counter.

 _Remember, most males are vulnerable to this kind of manipulation, though they typically focus on the physical attributes first. Female aren't immune either, though they can be more picky in regards to personality types._ The voice inside Miku-chan coached as she strolled out the front door.

Similar scenes of devastation would be repeated at the Ryu's Weapon shop, Sosuke's General Store, and Daiki's clothier.

* * *

Naruto hung up the last of the shirts his older 'sister' Miku-chan bought for him and slid the closet door closed. He was extremely happy at all the free stuff he got. Naruto picked up the list and crossed out the the last item. Because he was an orphan, Naruto treasured everything he had and took none of it for granted. He kept a meticulous inventory of every single object inside his apartment.

Though Naruto had really wanted to pay for his new possession fair and square, Kurama said this to him:

 _Consider it a lesson to them for making decisions based on appearances_. _You should take this lesson to heart, lest you find yourself underestimating a powerful foe._

Naruto could not argue against that, though he still feel slightly guilty. He walked over to the kitchen and started to fold the empty grocery bags so he could reuse them later.

 _Waste not, want not._ These were good habits to have.

Naruto felt a lump inside one of the bags and unfolded it. He pulled out a yellow plastic pack and stared.

 _Ginger Root Surprise!_ The pack read. It had anthropomorphic ginger wearing sunglasses giving a thumbs up. Naruto frowned. He wasn't a big fan of ginger and certainly not surprises.

 _How did this get in here?_

 _The ero-grocer slipped it in to get into 'Miku's' good graces._

 _Really? That's pathetic. I hope I don't end up like that ero._

 _Don't worry, you will._

 _What?_

 _It's just a fact of life. I do hope you develop better tactics than he does though._

 _WHAT?!_

 _Do we really need to have the talk right now?_

 _No, no, I'll pass for now._

 _Just as I thought. Anyway, if you think its going to taste bad, why not share it with someone? Misery loves company after all._

 _Good idea._ Naruto could count the number of people he would be willing to share the snack with on one hand, so it was a fairly easy decision.

Naruto left his apartment and made his way toward the Hokage Tower.

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in his office. Two piles of paper occupied his large rounded oak desk. Sarutobi sighed as he took a piece of paper from the left pile, skimmed and scribbled his signature on it before moving it to the right stack.

A knock sounded on his office door.

"Come."

Sarutobi looked up to see the door creaked open and a heavily bandaged man dressed in a black and white Kimono shuffling in.

"Ah, Danzo, welcome. Have a seat!" Sarutobi beckoned at the councilor as he pulled out another piece of paper from the left pile and looked back down.

"Thanks, Sarutobi." Danzo said as he slipped into the chair in front of Sarutobi's desk.

"What can I do for you today?" Sarutobi asked as he scribbled on the paper in front of him, ignoring the lack of formality from his councilor.

"Nothing. I just wanted to let you know our guests at the... friendship camp... have learned the errors of their ways. They won't be spilling any more s-class secrets... ever."

Sarutobi suppressed a smile at Danzo's nickname for Torture and Interrogation. He raised his eyebrows and paused mid scribble to ponder Danzo's last statement though.

"You didn't kill them, did you?" He asked.

"No of course not!" Danzo snapped, seemingly insulted. He _was_ insulted. "I placed seals on their tongues which will cause them to black out if they try to speak or write about the events of the other night."

Sarutobi stroked his chin and pulled out his pipe.

"That's a good solution. Good work. Did you learn anything of value? Was there any sort of foreign power at work?" Sarutobi asked as he lit his pipe.

Danzo shook his head, "No. It looks like the fools just had one too many cups of liquid courage."

Sarutobi shook his head and puffed his pipe. Danzo was used to seeing daggers behind every shadow and known for his... thoroughness; if his paranoia was satisfied, then Sarutobi will leave it at that.

"Thank you for the report Danzo. You may go now." Sarutobi took another puff of his pipe, set it down, and resumed working on the paper work.

Danzo stood and nodded at Sarutobi before turning and marching out of the office.

As the door clicked shut, a young voice came from Sarutobi's right side.

"Hey old man, I didn't know Konoha had a friendship camp." Young Naruto poked his head in through one of the windows.

"Naruto! Get down from there!" Sarutobi yelled at him and stood up, a windowsill was no place for a four year old.

"Okie dokey." Sarutobi looked on in amazement as the Naruto's head disappeared from view before he cartwheeled through window and landed on his feet.

"How did you get up here?" Sarutobi demanded.

"The lady at the door was a meanie, so I used the fire escape." The kid said with laughter.

"Oh. Okay." _At least he wasn't doing anything stupidly dangerous, like walking up walls._ "Did you hear the whole conversation?"

"Yep. What's liquid courage?" Naruto asked.

"Nothing you need to know about. Listen Naruto, forget about everything you heard just now okay?" Sarutobi ordered.

Naruto shrugged, "If you say so old man. But that other guy smelled funny."

Sarutobi sighed. He was feeling his age all too often these days, especially around the hyperactive four year old who had extremely short attention spans.

"So what brings you here today Naruto?" Sarutobi redirected.

"Oh! That's right! Someone accidentally gave me a pack of these Ginger Surprise snacks. I wanted to see if you want to try them out with me. You know, as thanks for helping me out!" The young man grinned and held out pack of snacks.

"That's nice of you." Sarutobi nodded in approval.

"Ah! That reminds me! I forgot to give these to Danzo as a token of my appreciation for his hard work." Sarutobi slapped his forehead as he pulled out a large straw basket filled to the brim with various fruit from underneath his desk.

There were apples, bananas, strawberries, grapes, mangos, and a couple of other fruits Naruto didn't recognize but smelled sweet.

Sarutobi thought of something, "Say Naruto, can you do something for me?" Sarutobi asked.

"Sure jiji. What's up?" Naruto said enthusiastically.

"Can you take this basket of fruit and give it to the Danzo? He was the person I was talking to before you came in."

Naruto frowned slightly. This seemed like a chore.

Sarutobi correctly read the boy's expression and rephrased, "Alas, if you are not interested, I fear I will have to make it a mission for some other shinobi hopeful."

"A... mission you say?" Naruto leaned forward, his interest piqued.

"Exactly, a mission." Sarutobi noddedly slowly. He needed to make up some bogus condition so it would appear more... mission-like.

 _Oh, there's an idea._

"One of the conditions for this mission is that you can't let anyone see you giving him the fruit basket. You must report back to me when you deliver the package, dismissed!" Sarutobi said in the same authoritative tone he reserved for the ANBU.

"Hai! Hokage-sama!" A split second and a yellow blur later, both Naruto and the fruit basket vanished from Sarutobi's office.

Hook, line, sinker. The Third Hokage smiled triumphantly and his gaze drifted over to the snack sitting on the corner of his desk. The ginger man with sunglasses stared back at him with a thumbs up.

 _...I'll eat it when he gets back._ Sarutobi told himself as he eyed it suspiciously. _Misery loves company after all._

As he reached for another piece of paper on the left pile though, a nagging question hung over the back of his mind.

 _When did we get a fire escape?_

* * *

Naruto sprinted down the cobblestone street with fruit basket in hand, hot on the Danzo's trail. Though Sarutobi had not told him where to go, Naruto was sure he could track Danzo down by smell alone and figured the lack of information was part of the challenge. After all, not every mission specified the location of the target.

Kurama agreed to go along with it because it was getting late and he hadn't finished planning out Naruto's training.

 _Thanks for letting me use your nose._ Naruto thought.

 _You're welcome._ Kurama shrugged; he hadn't actually enhanced Naruto's sense of smell.

 _Perhaps its an unintentional side effect of sealing me into him at such a young age?_ Kurama thought to himself.

Naruto stopped in the middle of the street intersection and sniffed the air, ignoring the curious looks of passing villagers. He followed the faint smell of bandages down the street and into an alleyway between two wooden houses. Naruto stepped into the alleyway and looked around in in suprrise. There was a red brick wall between the houses in front of him; it was a dead end.

 _How odd..._ _I'm sure I followed the scent correctly, but it disappears into the wall!_

Kurama piped up. _Observe your surroundings closely Naruto. Look for inconsistencies._

Naruto scanned his surroundings. An alleyway with a dead end was nothing new. The difference in the construction material, however, merited a closer look. Naruto disregarded the wooden walls; they were the same material and color as the rest of the houses they belong to. Naruto stood in front of the brick wall and studied it closely.

Halfway up the wall a slightly lighter brick jutted out slightly.

 _Bingo._ Naruto ran his hand against the brick, then pushed against it when he felt it gave way under the pressure.

The brick retracted silently into the wall and a faint rectangular outline appeared on the wall. The faint outline solidified into dark lines as the rectangular door slid backwards and to the side with a slight groan. Naruto peered into the darkness in wonder.

 _THIS IS SO COOL!_ Naruto thought excitedly.

Kurama was slightly worried. He had seen enough of Konoha to know that this tunnel was something out of the ordinary. It was impossible for this to be a simple utility tunnel; they were generally well-lit, carefully marked, and did not feature hidden entrances... unless Konoha's civil engineering team sources was trying to emulate Iwa. No, someone had gone out of their way to create this secret base in the heart of a hidden village right under the noses of watchful shinobi. Whoever this person was very rich, very powerful, and definitely very cunning. Or just insanely stupid.

 _Be careful Naruto._ Kurama warned as Naruto stepped into the darkness without any hint of fear.

* * *

Danzo walked quickly in the unlit tunnels underneath Konoha. He knew Root headquarters like the back of his hand and had made it a policy so that most of the facility remain perpetually in the darkness; mostly so that his fledgling organization could be easily defended in the event of an invasion. His newly recruited ANBU operatives however, complained loudly and openly about been literally kept in the dark all the time whenever they thought Danzo wasn't listening.

 _Amateurs_. Danzo sneered.

No wonder Konoha was stagnating. The shinobi corp was filled to the brim with useless whiny meat bags. When the newest crop of Root child-soldiers finally graduated, he would dispose of these worthless ANBU and shore up the organization's remaining weaknesses. But for now, he'll make do with what he had...

Yes, he was the True Fire Shadow. He will be at the forefront of whatever it took to make a Konoha a stronger, better place. And he will not be stopped.

* * *

Naruto moved cautiously and quietly with one hand braced against the wall in the blinding darkness.

 _Whoever lives here probably doesn't like light or loud noises, so I should be polite and stay quiet as well._ Naruto reasoned as he crept along.

 _I don't like this._ Kurama muttered.

 _Don't be such a scaredy-cat! We'll just find Danzo's home, drop off the package, and be back in time for some ramen._

Kurama ignored Naruto's taunt with a huff and reached out with his enhanced senses to watch for danger.

A minute later Naruto's hand ran against something round and metallic.

 _Hey, there's a door knob here._

He opened the door slightly and peered in before Kurama could warn him about opening random doors.

It was a tiny room bordered on all sides by grey stone. A small rolled up futon was propped against the corner wall next to a miniature wood desk and chair. The room was illuminated by a small candle, and Naruto could make out a small boy roughly the same size as him dressed in complete black sitting with his back to the door.

With a mischievous smile, Naruto crept up silently next to the boy and whispered "BOO!"

The boy fell out of his chair in fright, but calmed after a few seconds. Naruto studied the boy in front of him. He had extremely pale skin with short black hair and sported a round face with a slightly pointed chin. He had been drawing with a brush on a scroll before Naruto scared him.

 _Wow. How very mature of you._ Kurama stated deadpanned.

Naruto ignored the barb and laughed as he stuck out his hand, "Sorry if I scared ya! I couldn't resist. My name is Naruto, what's yours?"

The pale boy's black eyes narrowed at Naruto and and tilted his head.

"Danzo-Sama calls me Sai sometimes." said the boy as he took Naruto's hand and shook it.

"Well, Sai sometimes, what are you doing here? Do you live here? Is this a secret club or something?" Naruto peppered Sai with questions as he stuck his hands behind his head.

The boy's face turned even more pale at Naruto's questions and crouched into a ball with his fists next to his ears.

"The first rule of Root is you do not talk about Root!" Sai muttered repeatedly as he huddled in a little ball while rocking back and forth on his feet, his eyes staring into the distance.

"Uh... what?" Naruto stared as Sai kept rocking back and forth in a little ball on the floor. Naruto wisely backed out of the room and closed the door in front of him.

 _What was THAT?_

Kurama had a pretty good idea; the boy called Sai displayed telltale signs of memory alteration and possibly hypnotic suggestion.

 _Maybe it's just a personality quirk._ Kurama offered, hoping to quickly redirected Naruto's attention, _What do you think of the name Root?_

 _That's a dumb name for a secret club. I can come up with something better._

 _Like what?_ Kurama was genuinely curious.

Naruto scrounged up his face in concentration. _Konoha Super Beast Sentai!_ He stated finally after a minute of thinking.

Uncomfortable silence hung over Naruto as Kurama rolled his eyes. _Lets just drop off the fruit basket ok?_

To Kurama's great annoyance, Naruto stopped several more times to peek into the various doors that he came across, though he exercised more caution and did not disturb any of the inhabitants.

The sound of conversation in an open room that branched off from the main corridor caused Naruto to slow his steps and creep towards the source. Naruto leaned his ear out slightly to hear the conversation better.

"-Kinoe still has trouble controlling his wood abilities. In fact the other day he sprouted a branch right out of his thigh during sparring practice. I've got so many wood jokes lined up he will never live it down..."

Laughter.

 _Wood jokes? I didn't know you can make up jokes about wood._

 _Ignore them._ Kurama instructed. Still too young for an explanation.

In the meantime, Kurama was having an internal monologue with himself.

 _But another_ _mokuton user? Interesting._

 _Perhaps an illegitimate child of Hashiramas?_ Kurama doubted that. None of Hashirama's offspring were able to replicate his feats of wood release, and Hashirama hadn't been the type to sow his seed in multiple fields; Mito would have seen him dead for that.

Kurama snickered at his own horticulture-related jokes.

Naruto tiptoed past the open room and continued down the corridor. As he reached the end of the corridor, his outstretched hand encountered a solid metal door. A faint light on the wall blinked twice as the door slid open with a soft hiss. Tired of fumbling in the dark, Naruto looked for a light source. Another blinking red light on the far left side of the room he entered drew him over as the door behind him closed silently.

 _I wonder what this does._ Naruto thought as he stood in front of the light. He didn't recognize any of the characters next to the buttons. Kurama did, but was a step too slow as Naruto reached up towards the illuminated button.

 _Wait, don't touch any-_ Kurama shouted as Naruto jammed his finger on the "Purge All" button.

Silence. Kurama sighed in relief.

 _Aw... it didn't do anything._ Naruto was disappointed. _Maybe I'm doing it wrong._ Naruto did the only logical thing he could think of.

He hammered the button repeatedly.

Naruto was momentarily blinded as a series of ceiling lanterns bathed the room in blinding light and a klaxon began to ring loudly..

"Wha-?" Naruto froze momentarily as the sudden light blinded him momentarily and he covered his eyes with his arm.

Naruto lowered his arm a few seconds later as his eyes adjusted to the light. He froze as faint shouts and sounds of pounding reverberated through the metal door he had came through.

 _There, on the other side! RUN!_ Kurama shouted at him.

Naruto saw a second set of large metal doors that was slowly sliding to a close on the opposite side of the room. He ran.

Naruto didn't have a chance to make sense of the transparent cylindrical glass vats or the things it held as he ran past. The vats had semi spherical metal tops connected by a series of cables leading into the ceiling. The first jar Naruto ran by had a set of lavender eyes. The second had a wrinkled arm implanted with red eyes. The third held a hand that was divided down the middle; half was flash, the other half was wood.

Naruto managed to dive and roll through the gap at the last second. He braced his feet against the ground and sprang forward into a run.

 _Nice moves kit._

Meanwhile the Anbu trapped on the other side of the door finally breached the room. They reached the flashing control panel just in time to see the safety protocols kicked in and the sterilization seals activate. They watched in morbid curiosity as high voltage electricity coursed through the jars and destroyed all trace of organic matter. By the time the lightning seals exhausted their stored chakra, only unrecognizable lumps of carbon were left floating in the jars.

* * *

Naruto cursed and flattened himself against the wall as a group of people ran past him in the dark.

"What the hell's going on in the lab?!" A voice shouted as they ran towards the fading klaxon behind Naruto.

"I don't know! You know as well as I do I can't see a blasted thing in this-" A second voice cut off before they rounded the corner.

Naruto let out his breathe and resumed his walk down the tunnel. He was going to get in big trouble with the old man if anyone caught him now.

He caught the smell of bandages again and followed with his nose. He came to an intersection and peeked around the corner. Naruto made out two faint silhouettes in the darkness guarding a rectangular wooden door. The smell came from behind that door.

 _That must be where he is, but I can't let them see me giving old man Danzo the fruit basket or else I'm going to fail the mission. What can we do to distract them? Any ideas Kurama?_

 _No... if we had time to find the layout of the place and more information we might have more options, but as it is you have no chance of getting past those guards._

 _Can't I just use henge?_

 _You could try, but you will most likely get caught. Henge typically doesn't work on Jonin level shinobi._

As Naruto racked his brain for ideas, a shinobi ran past Naruto from behind him and started shouting. "Danzo-sama! Danzo-sama! Someone has activated the sterilization procedures in the lab!" The door to the office burst open and the bandaged old man limped out in a hurry, his face ugly with anger.

"WHAT?! SHOW ME!" He roared.

The terrified shinobi led a very angry Danzo and his two guards past Naruto. None of the man noticed the blond jinchuriki flattened against the wall in their haste.

 _Score!_ Naruto cheered inside as he scampered forward and ducked into Danzo's office.

 _They really need some decorating tips._ Naruto announced as he surveyed the room.

Much like Sai's room, the office was very boring. The featureless room held a large wooden desk and chair, seemingly identical to the ones found in the Hokage office in the middle. Behind the desk was a large bookshelf which occupied the entire back wall. Rows of wooden cabinets and drawers lay flush against the left and right walls of the room.

 _He seems to be in a rush, should I wait for him?_ Naruto pondered _He looks pretty angry though..._

 _Just leave it on his desk so we can get out of here._ Kurama advised. _Since he works here, he'll be sure to see the package sooner or later._

Naruto sighed and walked over to the desk and set the basket down. As he did so however, the basket knocked over the reading candle and the inkpot that had been on the desk. Both objects fell to the ground with a clatter as a horrified Naruto looked on. The reading candle extinguished upon hitting the ground, but miraculously did not break part. The inkpot was not as lucky; it broke into several large pieces and a thousand tiny silvers. The oily ink splattered everywhere and left a unbroken trail of flammable material between the candle and bookcase.

"... Oops." Naruto laughed nervously.

Kurama sighed. _Please be careful kit. There's no point in infil-_

 _Hey what's that?_ Naruto's hyperactive attention jumped to a shiny white object sitting on the bookshelf.

He picked up the object gently and ran his fingers down the front. It was a white porcelain fox mask with vibrant red markings.

 _That's good craftsmanship._ Kurama admitted.

"Hey, did you hear something?" A voice came from outside the room.

 _CRAP!_ Naruto stuffed the over sized mask down his shirt and ducked underneath the table. He saw two pairs of feet walk past and around the desk.

 _Crap crap crap crap crap._

"Whoa!" One of the voices cried out. Naruto heard a thud as something heavy hit the ground. The second voice hurried over,"Hey, you okay? Come on, talk to me."

"Yea I'm fine. Just bruised my pride is all. Come on, let's go find Danzo-sama." The first voice muttered as his compatriot laughed and helped him up. Naruto heard the shuffling of feet and peaked his head out from beneath the desk. Alone again. Naruto let out a sigh of relief. _Lets get out of here._

 _About time. Remember to stay on your guard, a lot of shinobi's lose their lives when they think the battle is over and they let their guard down._ Kurama lectured.

 _Hai Sensei~._ Naruto said mockingly as he slipped back out of room.

With Kurama's advice at the forefront of his mind Naruto carefully retraced his steps without attracting any attention. Luckily, Danzo and the rest of the shinobi in the lab were too focused on trying to salvage what they could from the glass vats to notice the blond kid skirting the edge of the room. Ten minutes later Naruto jogged out of the dark tunnels with a smile on his face into the hazy afternoon sun. He rounded the corner out of the alley and promptly collided with a teenage boy and fell backwards.

"Hey kid, sorry about that!" The older boy apologized and offered his hand to help Naruto up.

"Nah, don't be sorry, it wasn't your fault. I shouldn't run around corners like that." Naruto laughed at his own clumsiness as he took the offered hand and hoisted himself up.

"Just be careful from now on ya?" The black haired shinobi ruffled his hair. "Off you go."

Naruto stuck his tongue out at the man and the serious looking boy next to him before taking off.

"What an energetic brat." The older boy muttered in a half smile as he watched Naruto vanish into the crowds on the street.

"Did you say something Shisui-san?" The younger boy asked next to him.

"Nah, don't worry about, Itachi-kun. Let's go get something to eat before we go see Danzo-sama. My treat." Shisui offered.

"Can we pick up some tomatoes for Sasuke-kun as well?" The younger boy asked.

"Sure, sure. Whatever you want." Shisui laughed as he led Itachi towards the grocer.

* * *

About thirty seconds after Naruto left Danzo's office, the candle that fell on the ground began smoldering. The vanilla scented everlast candle was a very rare and very expensive; it lasted ten times as long as a normal candle and could not be snuffed out unless a bit of chakra was applied to the wax base.

A second later the candle snapped back to life. The special oil-based disappearing ink Danzo used for his secret communiques quickly caught fire. A few moment later, the fire leaped on to the bookcase and hopped on to the surrounding cabinets and drawers...

* * *

Danzo stared at the charred remains of his office. With the exception of his desk and chair in the middle of the room, everything had been burnt to a crisp. His shinobi had put out the fire with a simple water jutsu, but no jutsu could undo the damage that was done.

All of the confidential shinobi profiles from across the elemental nations, all of the secret treaties with foreign agents and rulers, all of the financial reports and payment information, all of the data from the questionable biological experiments, all of the secret missions and potential assassination targets. ALL of it GONE. Ashes in the wind. Everything except a table, a chair... and a _fruit basket_?

Danzo's eyes stared at basket of fruit sitting on his desk. He flicked his hand, and one of the ANBU appeared in front of the basket. The Anbu rifled through the basket quickly and removed something. He turned around and handed a small scroll to Danzo.

Danzo snatched the scroll with a growl and undid the seal. He opened the scroll and began to read.

 _Dear Danzo Shimura:_

 _I must thank you from the bottom of my heart for going out of your way to ensure Uzumaki Naruto's secret, even if the reasons for doing so were not entirely altruistic._

 _I am aware that we have not really spoken in a while, and that there are some things you feel I am better off knowing, but in truth I believe that whatever mistakes you have made in the dark can be forgiven and that it's not too late to come back to the light._

 _We've had our differences in the past, but I hope we can set those differences aside and make Konoha a better, safer place for the future._

 _Your friend._

 _Hiruzen Sarutobi_

* * *

Danzo stormed into the Hokage Office in barely contained anger. Sarutobi kept right on scribbling without looking up.

"Hokage-sama, I -" Danzo began loudly.

"Ah Danzo! did you find the fruit basket to your liking?" Sarutobi asked with a twinkle in his eye as he lifted his head and met Danzo's stare.

 _Is he be taunting me?!_ Danzo thought angrily. He inhaled laboriously and counted to ten. He was running on adrenalin right now and he needed to assess the situation calmly.

"Uh... yes. I did. Thank you very much." Danzo said quietly as Sarutobi smiled.

"See! I told you I could do it!" Danzo turned to stared at the source of the voice. He had been so angry he didn't even notice the blond haired brat perched on the windowsill chewing on some sort of... snack?!

 _They are BOTH chewing snacks!_ Danzo realized

Danzo spied the familiar fox mask peeking out from underneath Jinchuriki's shirt. Another wave of anger assault him as he realized who was responsible for the unmitigated disaster plaguing him.

"You... you... !" Danzo raised his arm and pointed as he stuttered.

"I... I.. what?" The brat looked at him in curious confusion.

Danzo wanted to scream, but could not continue.

 _YOU DESTROYED ALL OF MY EXPERIMENTS... containing highly questionable and unethically procured specimens!_

 _YOU STOLE FROM MY BASE... filled with kidnapped, brainwashed children!_

 _YOU SET FIRE TO ALL OF MY RECORDS... documenting all of Root's illegal activities and assassinations!_

Danzo dropped his arm, completely defeated. He couldn't make a single accusation without incriminating himself in the process.

"You have great potential as a shinobi." Danzo conceded to the brat's delight.

Danzo's mind raced as he processed his available information. The scroll proved Sarutobi's title of 'The Professor' wasn't just for show. He KNEW Danzo was assembling an alternate power structure behind his back. He KNEW Danzo was creating a secret army with stolen abilities. He KNEW EVERYTHING and he had not destroyed Danzo outright. Danzo was beaten before he even began.

Danzo snapped out of his thoughts as Sarutobi spoke to Naruto, "Naruto, these Root snacks are pretty tasty, but the flavor wears out too fast. What do you think?"

Naruto nodded as he spat out a piece into the wastebasket and unwrapped another one.

"Yea...the flavor lasts for like a minute tops before it gets old and you have to get rid of it. But its pretty good while it lasts eh?" He said as he popped the fresh snack into his mouth.

Danzo trembled a the mention of Root. That confirmed Danzo's paranoid suspicions. They knew everything and gave him a warning.

Naruto's little incursion into Root Headquarters was a demonstration of Sarutobi's power. The Jinchuriki could have left a his base a smoking ruin filled piled high with bodies, but he had not done so. Instead, Sarutobi must have ordered his puppet to destroy all of the documentation regarding Root; an effective tactic to cripple an organization without killing anyone. Without killing _HIM._

 _He is being merciful. To me! Of all people!_

Danzo knew what he had to do to placate Sarutobi's wrath. He needed to shut everything down and clean up his mess; playtime was over. Danzo realized he had spent far too much time wallowing in his own sense of self superiority and his ambitions to see that Sarutobi was indeed a fine Hokage.

 _Now I see why Tobirama chose him to be the third._ Danzo thought bitterly. _I have no one to blame but myself._ _I am not fit to be the fire shadow. Konoha's future is safe with him._

"I must thank you for your gift, Hokage-sama. I will not forget your magnanimity or your mercy. You can trust me to do the right thing." Danzo said as hebowed low.

And he meant every word.

Sarutobi looked up in surprise, unaccustomed to this sort of formality or gift of words from Danzo. He smiled and nodded.

"You are most welcome Danzo. Dismissed."

Danzo moved to the door, bowed again, and exited.

Naruto and Sarutobi shared a look of curiosity at the departing man before and shrugging and going back to what they were doing.

* * *

A week later all traces of Root disappeared from Konoha.

The tunnels and secret rooms became emergency escape routes and shelters that were added to the updated evacuation plans.

The armory's weapon master received an anonymous tip-off and discovered a couple dozen crates of unused weapons and armor in an abandoned warehouse.

The barracks received a long overdue shipment of beds, desks, and swivel chairs. Every single room was now properly furnished and instances of honor duels over furniture no longer plagued the quartermaster.

All of the ANBU who had been on 'vacation' or had taken time off for various reasons inexplicably returned to their duties all on the same day. For the first time since Konoha's founding, there were more than enough shinobi to fulfill all of the existing contracts.

There was also a sale in the market district for large glass vats. They became hot items, as many people found uses for them. A large number of them became aquariums, while some became trophy display cases, and others were appropriated as cooking apparatus (Teuchi bought two for Ichiraku Ramen).

A genin team led by Shisui Uchiha wiped out a camp of bandits and discovered all the children that had gone missing in the past year hiding in a nearby cave, though the children had no memory of their abduction or how they ended up in the cave. Shisui and his team received commendations and were hailed as heroes while all of the children were returned to their parents or were adopted.

* * *

A/N: Yay, early update! Hopefully this chapter makes you smile a little. I had a lot of fun writing it. :)


	6. The Kumo Affair - Part 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

 **Chapter 6: The Kumo Affair - Part 1**

* * *

Nestled deep in the verdant forests of Fire Country, the Village of the Hidden Leaf was blessed year round with the most hospitable climate in all the Elemental Nations... discounting the seasonal torrential rains, roasting summers, and excessively tolerable winters that only sometimes managed to fog one's breath.

But this winter was different. A cold front from the Northern Sea had rolled slow and hard over Iron and Frost Countries, and now angrily squatted over Konoha and the surrounding winter woodlands. Luckily for the village's inhabitants, the Third Secret War's postbellum peacetime afforded all with a plenitude of disposable income. Between comfy new coats and modern space heating, the bizzarely harsh season was just a tad more annoying than previous years.

Earlier that fall, the Daimyo of Fire Country conferred with the Daimyo of Iron Country to sign and enact a scientific agreement.

In Naruto terms, Fire Country civil engineers and Iron Country industry had a giant nerdy pow wow.

Throw in a few rivers, cement, enough wire to reach the moon, and some judicious application of earth jutsu, and out comes a tirelessly comprehensive installation of public electrical grids in the most prominent population centers of Fire and Iron, to much fanfare, mere days before the first forecasted snowfall.

All the comfort of indoor lighting and heating, with none of the caveman effort.

The new public utility upgrade obviously included Naruto's apartment complex. The swarm of electricians worked swiftly and efficiently, leaving only bright lights and electrical outlets in their wake.

Despite the fact that Naruto's cramped abode now boasted on-demand light and toasty heating, the boy was currently huddled in an irritated ball glued by chakra to the apartment ceiling.

 _ _Tell me again why I can't turn on the heater?__ __And why am I sitting on the ceiling?__

 _ _ **To condition your body to temperature extremes.**__ __**Not all the places we will travel to will be a paradise, you know? Count yourself lucky. Normally we would have to journey far for equivalent training.**__

 _ _Yay.__ Naruto thought, in monotone. _I'm so lucky._ _ _You__ _do_ _ _know I'm only four years old, right?__

 _ _ **To become Hokage is a great dream. Great dreams require great effort... and great sacrifice. You would do well to remember this.**__

 _Naruto stuck his tongue out._

 _ _ **If you can continue this sitting position for another hour... I will teach you a new recipe.**__

 _Naruto froze._

 _ _I dunno...I've kinda got my heart set on the barbecue chicken wings...__

 _ _ **A dessert then? Perhaps a... sweet?**__

 _ _Sweet? Well... it'd better be good!__

 _ _ **You know my recipes are delicious.**__ Kurama retorted, slightly offended at the doubt in his culinary ability. _ **Know that I was once hailed as the illustrious Iron Chef!**_

 _ _...Is that suppose to be impressive? What the heck is an Iron Chef, anyway__

Kurama sighed.

 _ _ **Another time perhaps...**__ Kurama snapped out of his slump _ **.**_ _ _ **Here is what you need. You will need to send 'Miku' out for some things, I'm afraid.**__

Naruto dug a pencil and notepad from a pocket and began scribbling. After double checking the list and forming a half-ram seal, a shadow clone popped silently into existence. It grabbed the paper with a hint of annoyance. The clone promptly dropped to the ground, swiping up Gama-chan and the account book from the kitchen table. With a quiet pop, a cloud of henge smoke engulfed it.

 _ _ **You've making sound progress with kage bunshin no jutsu. Perhaps in a few more months you may be able to progress to a seal-less bunshin.**__ Kurama said encouragingly, ignoring the waves of resentment rolling out from the shadow clone.

'Miku-chan' walked out of the henge smoke, wearing a heavy blue coat and long red scarf wrapped around her neck. Snug black jeans and warm brown boots completed the guise. Pouting as she stepped out of the apartment and onto the partially frozen walkway, she muttered a string of curses and slammed the door behind her.

"Stupid lazy jerk boss making me go out in this cold ass-"

 _ _ **I suppose its attitude is only natural, considering shadow clones are of identical mind and memory at the moment of creation.**__ Kurama observed _._ _ _ **Though, your arsenal of expletives is... remarkable.**__

 _ _I didn't know I knew so many swear words...__ _N_ aruto admitted. __I guess they just hate chores and stuff much as I do.__

Kurama laughed.

* * *

'Miku-chan' hurried silently through the deserted, snow-strewn streets towards the nearest grocer. Maintaining the sweet girl-next-door facade of 'Miku' tired easily in face of doing the Boss' crap errands in crap weather.

While the new Miku persona conferred incredible benefits (service, smiles, discounts... discounts on ramen, most importantly), 'Miku' attracted just as much 'benefit' in the form of unsolicited sexual advances. From men _and_ women. Though she knew better, she hung doggedly onto the hope that the recent trend of horribly freezing temperatures would curb this new 'benefit'.

Konoha was apparently a village full of closet perverts who transformed into bug-eyed octopus-handed lechers at first glimpse of a cute young girl.

She rounded another corner just off Konoha's central avenue, only to smack face-first into a solid wall of people.

Rubbing her sore nose, she took a step back to stand on tip-toe and scan the ninja-peppered throng of whispering civilians. She began shouldering her way to the first flak jacketed on-duty shinobi she saw, and tapped on the black, spiky haired man's shoulder.

"Excuse me, jounin-san, what's going on?"

"A Kumo ambassador and his entourage have just arrived in the village. Everyone and their mother's uncle has shown up to rubberneck them all the way to the Hokage Tower," the jounin answered, eyes still locked on the crowd, and presumably, the foreign delegates.

A wave of murmuring and a few scattered cheers rippled through the gawkers as heads turned toward the far end of the street. Miku stood again on tiptoe, bouncing up occasionally, but could only make out the ambassador astride a dusty chestnut horse waving to the local population. With a bandage-wrapped head, mesh under armor, Kumo-standard flak jacket, and hitai-ate slung low over one eye, it was painfully obvious he was both shinobi and ambassador. Unlike the village residents, he wore no overcoat, seemingly unbothered by the cold.

 _Miku had a good internal chuckle at the man's ridiculous goatee (which had escaped the confines of his chin and doing it's best to crawling up his jaw), and in another time, might have been up there with the confetti throwers, flinging itching powder over the crowds and procession with wild abandon._

Once the foreigners were well out of sight, the crowd thinned and began dispersing excitedly to their normal routines. The jounin shook his head.

"Cheeky bastard," the jounin muttered as he stared down the street. "You'd think it was some _other_ Kumo village that started the war, what with his smug little face and limp wristed hand flapping."

Miku shifted not-so-subtly to get a better look at the jounin's face. It was one thing to be invisibly shadowed day in and day out by masked ANBU, and quite another to have a chance to know a village elite face-to-face. "Isn't it okay, as long as there's peace?" she asked innocently.

"If the underlying cause of the war is never addressed then the peace will only be temporary. Agreeing to a fake peace is just agreeing to being stabbed in the back later, instead of being stabbed in the face, here and now," he said flatly.

"Then... what do you think is the real cause of the war?"

"Who knows? Money, natural resources, territory, jutsu... maybe Kumo just wants to fight for the sake of fighting," he shrugged, and threw his hands up in the air.

"But couldn't be said that understanding others is the first step towards peace? Like, even just talking about a treaty?" Miku pressed.

"Hmm... I guess," the jounin scratched a cheek in thought. He tilted his head, slanting Miku a glance and a grin. "But where are my manners? My mother didn't raise a total baboon, after all. Could I trouble you for your name, miss?"

"I am Hatsune. Hatsune Miku." Miku met his gaze, bowing politely. "I am new to Konoha, but Fire Country has always been my home." She smiled shyly, "May I ask your name in return, shinobi-san?"

"Sh-Uchiha. Uchiha Shisui," Shisui stumbled over his words as he answered. He mentally berated himself for not turning around earlier to see this little angel, with her cute twin-tails, and her cute little face, and her cute little button nose, and her cute little lips, _and holy crap where in Fire Country had this cutie been hiding because gahtdayum it's my CIVIC DUTY to arrest her before this... this weapon of mass destruction is unleashed on the unsuspecting masses!_

"So... Shuchiha... or Uchiha, jounin-san?" Miku pouted.

"Uhh... Uchiha. Like the clan. Or the police. Both, really," Shisui rambled out as he blushed.

"Well then, I'm very pleased to make your acquaintance, Uchiha-san," Miku smiled again, and made the weird Kurama blinky eyes at him, and his blush turned red. To say his face was akin to bruised tomato with two eyes, a nose, and a mouth, would be most unflattering but brutally true. "Thank you for talking with me, Uchiha-san, but I'm afraid I have to go finish my errands now!" She turned to leave.

"W-wait!" Shisui called out to her.

Miku turned back. "Yes, Uchiha-san?"

"Call me Shisui! And uh... will I see you around?" He shifted from foot to foot. "Would you... maybe... like to go out for tea or lunch sometime?"

The turquoise-haired girl laughed lightly and poked Shisui's nose tip. "We'll see, Shisui-kun, we'll see!" She turned and dashed off, long hair swaying, and disappeared in a turn at the next street over.

* * *

Shisui's eyes were glued to the ghost of the girl's firm, supple buttocks, even after she'd rounded the corner and vanished from sight. He quickly glazed over as a dopey grin bloomed across his face.

"Wow. What an ass. I'd sure like to-." He whispered as he cupped both of his hands.

"Perhaps it'd be best to keep your private thoughts... private, Shisui-nii," Shisui jumped at the breath tickling his ear.

"Hey, you saw her! The girl is a total babe!" Shisui exclaimed, desperately trying to save face and failing miserably. He swatted jokingly at Itachi, who had affixed himself with chakra to the nearby wall at Shisui's shoulder height.

"She's undoubtedly attractive. I haven't much experience in these matters but... if you make no attempt to mask your intentions, I suspect she may not willingly progress with you. Not in the way you'd prefer, at any rate," Itachi, chuunin though he was, was more often than not irritatingly wise beyond his prepubescent years. His little Uchiha eyes watched Shisui contemplatively.

" _Anyway,_ " Shisui said abruptly," that Kumo delegation is way too suspicious." He lowered his voice, eyes wandering again to the Hokage tower. "Hokage-sama and my commander seem to share my concerns, so the guard on the Tower and other hard targets have been doubled... but honestly, I feel like we're missing too many pieces."

"Then consider that the objective is a softer target. There are many," Itachi said quietly as the two began walking towards the Tower.

Shisui whistled. "Yeah... just imagine the size of the net we'd have to cast if the brass runs with that assumption. Though... it's a more than valid point. Let's see who we can find that's off-duty, and convince them to keep their eyes on-duty." He suddenly tousled his hair hard. "Man, I'm gonna be so pissed if this is all just Kumo trying to psyche us out and nothing happens!"

"In the unlikely event their mission is to engage in psychological warfare with a single jounin in an enemy village, they can already count themselves successful."

Shisui stopped, and stared down at his cousin. "... Ugh. Could you please stop with the smart thing? Seriously."

"Returning to our previous topic, as you failed to secure your new acquaintance's contact information prior to her departure, please refrain from potential abuse of rank to comb through ANBU surveillance records for personal reasons. Not only is it a gross violation of Village Privacy Act 3-77, Sub-article 12, I have no desire to lie to our superior officers and potentially jeopardize my future ANBU prospects," Itachi droned.

"Way to completely ruin my day, Itachi-kun," Shisui sighed dejectedly.

His only reply was a bare hint of an Uchiha smirk on a stoic little Uchiha face.

* * *

Perched in perfect seiza on a seat cushion in the main clan hall, Hyuuga Hinata wore a carefully schooled blank expression . Branch house members came forth one one by one, and she nodded respectfully as each recited oaths of loyalty to her and the main house. It was terribly boring, terribly tedious... and terrifyingly, attended by every Hyuuga in the village, most notably her father, the Hyuuga clan head Hyuuga Hiashi.

She was totally unprepared when her uncle, Hizashi, her father's identical twin, came before her and knelt stiffly in total dogeza.

"I congratulate you on on this most joyous day: the celebration of your name day, Hinata-sama. I humbly affirm my loyalty to you, our blessed clan heiress and future head of our most noble clan. I and my kith and kin, humbly swear to protect you with our very lives." The words came out of him slowly, and monotonously mechanical, like paint drying on a windless summer day.

Hinata quickly reached out to lift her uncle's head up, but her father's hand shot out even faster to close in on her wrist in a visegrip. She looked to face her father, but he simply gave a curt nod with brow creased in stern disapproval.

Hizashi lifted his head to look at his brother.

"It is relieving to witness the main house seeing so diligently to Hinata-sama's education in proper etiquette," Hizashi said lowly, with a frigid smile.

Hiashi flinched ever so slightly before meeting his brother's glare.

"Remember your place, Hizashi. The concerns of the main house, are the concerns of _only_ the main house."

"... Of course. My most humble apologies. It is, after all, _tradition_ ," he all but spat out the last word, staring at his brother, the Hyuuga clan head, before realizing little Hinata was cowering between her angry father and uncle.

He dropped his gaze and muttered, "I apologize for my unsightly outburst, Hinata-sama. I shall henceforth strive to my utmost ability, to maintain the peace of our most noble clan."

A subtle wave of relief washed through the hall of Hyuuga, main and branch, as the tension bled away. Even the clan head breathed an internal sigh of relief, though as he berated himself for being baited to begin with.

After a few moments of silence in the clan hall in the wake of Hizashi's supplication and subsequent departure, Hiashi nudged his daughter gently.

She stood carefully, despite the awful tingle in her legs and feet, trying hard to remember the words and their order.

"I th-thank you all f-for your oaths of f-fel...fealty. I w-will d-do my b-best as clan a-air...heiress to... to ensure the surv-survival of... of our most noble Hyuuga cl-clan. You are hereby... dism-m-missed," Hinata slowly stuttered out.

As one, main and branch house crisply stood and bowed to Hinata. They shuffled silently out of the gathering hall, leaving Hinata alone with her father.

Hiashi turned to face her, but fastidiously locked his gaze somewhere between the middle of her forehead and over her left shoulder. Hinata's baby sister had arrived just this past spring, born in the fullness of the season of renewal. But a second childbirth had been too much for their mother's body to bear, and her life had slipped away not long after.

Hinata found her father avoiding her from that day forth.

She wasn't sure what she'd done wrong, much less correct it.

"Ko will escort you back to your quarters, where you will be served dinner. In the morning, you will prepare yourself, and Ko will return to show you to the main dojo tomorrow morning, whence we will begin your training in Jyuuken." He rose quickly, turned on his heel, and began a swift exit.

"W-will you n-not d-dine with me on m-my b-birthd-day, F-father?" Hinata asked, trying as hard as a four year old can to mask her disappointment. Hiashi paused, mid step.

"No. There are many clan matters to attend to." He continued on without even a glance back. An attendant branch member bowed low as the clan head rounded the turn out the shoji door and away into the endless halls.

Hinata turned away, facing the empty meeting hall. She blinked back great, fat tears as her cousin Ko kindly herded her back to her quarters.

A distant branch house auntie came to change her out of her formal dressage and into a dove grey sleeping yukata. She bowed and left.

A distant branch cousin came to serve dinner and pour her tea.

She ate in total silence.

The branch cousin collected the empty tray and dishes for the kitchens, and left.

She opened the shoji to the the inner garden a few fingers' width and blew out the candle as she crawled into her futon. Curled into a ball, she watched the sliver of sky and as it darkened to a deep indigo, just like the fall of her mother's long, silky hair.

 _I wish okaasan was still here. I wish we could all be together. We would be happy again._

She fell asleep, remembering the shimmer of her mother's hair and the ghost of her smile.

* * *

'Miku' opened the apartment door only to slammed in the face with a miasma of barbeque sauce infused air. She dumped the grocery bag on the kitchen counter before rummaging in a lower cupboard for a saucepan. After she filled it with a few cups of water and started it to boil on a burner, she turned to face Naruto.

"So."

Naruto looked up from his plate of barbeque wings, mouth and hands slathered in delicious dark brown goo.

"... So...?"

"You'll never guess what happened," she teased, leaning against the counter.

"... Ken declared his undying love? Again?"

"Ugh, no. That happens _every time_ ," she said, eyes rolling. "No, an ambassador came from Kumo today. It was the shortest parade ever, but he was shinobi too! They were even throwing confetti and stuff."

"What's he here for? You think maybe they don't have confetti or chicken wings in Kumo?" Another chicken wing disappeared into his mouth. Who cared about foreign dignitaries? Grass, River, Waterfall Country... those stuffy guys came and went from Jiji's tower all the damned time.

"Well, this jounin-san told me Kumo and Konoha were at war, and that we kinda still are." She glanced back to the saucepan. Nope, not boiling yet. "Kinda crazy. No one acts like there's a war going on, yeah?"

Naruto nodded sagely, half a chicken wing dangling from between his lips.

Miku's eyes narrowed. "This is like, your third day of chicken wings in a row. You're seriously gonna die if this continues," she huffed. "Why did Kurama even teach us this recipe? Even ramen has a better nutritional balance, and that's not saying much."

"Beeeh! What do you even know?!" Naruto jabbed his tongue out.

"... _I know..._ " Miku jabbed her chest with a thumb, "... what _you know_!" Her forefinger jabbed Naruto hard in the forehead. "I know how exactly how much cayenne goes in that sauce! Paprika! Garlic! With all the sugar, it's a wonder we haven't needed to see a doctor or replace our pancreas yet!" She turned back to the saucepan of water, now that it was finally boiling away.

" _Whatever_! We don't need a stupid... pank-ree-ass... whatever that is. Sounds lame!" He took a savage bite out of another chicken wing.

"Tch."

A tendril of orange chakra oozed from Naruto's shoulder, swirling to coalesce into a tiny fox wearing a huge shit-eating grin.

" **I don't know which is worse... arguing with oneself, or** _ **losing**_ **said argument with oneself**."

"Oi! Why are you taking her side?!" Naruto demanded hotly, wiping his mouth with the back of a hand.

" **Her side** _ **is**_ **your side** ," Kurama's tiny head shook slowly. " **How can a kit with such potential be so hopelessly stupid** **?** "

The fox turned to Miku. " **Any other discoveries?** "

"Well..." Miku slowly poured red beans into the saucepan while steadily stirring. "I met this jounin-san, Uchiha Shisui. He seemed nice enough, but it felt like he stared at my ass hard enough to burn a hole through my pants. After he thought I'd left, I overheard him speaking with another shinobi; they seem to believe a this proposed Kumo-Konoha peace treaty to be a front for some ulterior bad-news motive."

Kurama nodded slowly. " **More likely than not. Your shinobi villages and their predecessor clan-oriented factions rarely agreed to, much less honored, treaties of any kind, unless substantial benefit was assured. Agreeing to end a tenuous conflict for an even less tenuous reward is thus at best questionable.** "

"... What does that even mean?" The boy paused mid-chew, offering the other two a gut-churning view of half chewed chicken meat.

The tiny chakra construct stared at the ceiling, eyes glazing over. **"My latest proxy reports reveal neither village have recently engaged in any major deployments, offensive or defensive. Occasional small scale conflict, with relatively little incidence of hostile imprisonment or fatality. Kumo's primary objective for participation in the recent war opposite Konoha, and subsequent lack of demilitarization, was as much power grab as habitual hostility. Undermine the strength of all other villages whilst preserving as much strength as possible.** **The result is ongoing war by proxy**."

"So... Kumo only talks 'peace treaty' to hide the real plan: steal something from Konoha," Naruto concluded.

"I wonder what Kumo hopes to gain by sending their Head Jounin?" Miku tilted her head back, curious.

Naruto sucked the meat off the end of a wing, "... it's gotta be a kekkei genkai."

Miku stared at him, slack-jawed, while Kurama grinned on.

"What?" Naruto shook the wing bones at her subsequent frown. "It's pretty damn obvious! Look, it's dumb to steal anything from the Hokage tower. Even if they sneak in when Jiji's not around, it's still crammed full of jounin and ANBU-san," Naruto gesticulated, half-eaten wing still in hand. "And stealing straight from the ANBU-san? Or the military police, with all those snooty, suspicious Uchiha? That's just as dumb. All that's left is villagers, including the clans. Jiji said our village was founded with the most clans of any other village, and he also said most clans have a kekkei genkai. So, like, if you want apples, you go to the market. If you want a hammer, it's the hardware store. And if you wanna steal a kekkei genkai... it's Konoha or bust, baby," he ended, arms thrown wide.

He finished the wing, and tossed it on on the plate with a shrug, "I bet we've got pretty awesome jutsu, but, like, every hidden village has ninja, so every village has jutsu to steal. And kekkei genkai jutsu is pretty useless if you're non-clan. A jutsu, even hiden jutsu, seems easy enough to steal, but nabbing someone with a bloodline...? If you can get a kekkei genkai, it's kind of a two-for-one deal. Harder to steal, cool jutsu included."

" **Superb reasoning, Naruto,** " Kurama nodded as the boy grinned ear to ear. The fox stole a glance at the clock. Five to nine. " **Finish your meal quickly, kit, and get some rest. Miku will finish preparing your dessert, and store it for your later consumption.** " Kurama leapt, faintly trailing chakra, from the boy to his shadow clone.

Naruto eyed the fox warily, "You think something fishy is going down tonight."

Kurama nodded, mute. Naruto quickly polished off the remaining chicken, and dumped the bones into the garbage bin before dropping the dish in the sink.

"Thanks, bud," he nodded at the Miku clone, closing the bedroom door behind him.

"Hn." Miku nodded, still focused on the saucepan. She poured in some sugar, stirring all the while.

" **Stir gently. Just like that. Now, it must simmer and reduce...** "

The blond boy hopped into bed and pulled the coverlet up to his chin. He drifted off to the sounds of muffled voices, Kurama and the clone quietly clinking and tinking about in culinary adventures.

* * *

" **Naruto.** "

"Mmm."

" **Naruto!** "

Silence.

" **NARUTO!** "

"Five more min- YEEEOOWCH!"

Naruto screeched, tossing off the covers to nurse the throbbing bite on his finger. He lobbed an accusing stare at the tiny Kurama sitting on the bed beside him, tails billowing irately.

" **It's time to go, kit,** " Kurama urged, voice full of worry. " **One of my proxies has just returned with word of the theft of a Hyuuga child.** "

The boy scrambled from his bed, shucking his clothes to pull on the sleek jumpsuit and flak jacket his Miku clone had laid out for him.

A mouse-sized fox proxy darted under the cracked-open window to merge with Kurama.

" **The Kumo ambassador is unaccounted for** ," Kurama announced.

Naruto hefted out a large scroll from his closet, unfurling it on the unmade bed.

"Okay... the Hyuuga compound is... here," Naruto held a finger at a point on the map. "And... we're here," he dragged his finger over. "And Kumo is way northeast of us..." he gestured roughly at the periphery of the map.

Kurama looked at the map, pensive. " **We must head west-northwest.** "

"That's a totally different direction! Wait... this is a trick, isn't it? Trying to flee towards Rain Country..."

Yet another tiny proxy darted in from the window. Kurama blinked as it merged.

" **Your Hokage has issued a blanket order to all available non-stationed shinobi ranking chuunin and above. Order is as follows: tracking specialists and nonessential oinin to concentrate efforts in North to East quadrants, heavy priority on northeasterly travel corridors towards Lightning Country.** **Package recovery essential; capture secondary target if possible. In the event the package is damaged, proceed with extreme prejudice.** "

Kurama gave the map another once-over. " **With that said, if those hunters do not find their prize, it's because it was not there to begin with. This only reiterates the validity of you searching in a separate area."** The fox leapt back onto Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto nodded even as he summoned another two undisguised shadow clones.

"You, do our normal routine as we sneak out. Clean up the dishes and stuff, then hit the sack." Naruto pointed at the second clone, "Backup goes in the closet. Better safe than sorry."

The clones saluted, one heading off to pick up the kitchen, the other to cram itself and the now rolled-up map of Konoha in the little bedroom closet.

He'd strapped on his sandals, and was nearly out the kitchen window, when the Miku clone lobbed a small satchel at his face, before dispelling itself with a rude grin.

"I've already got equipment, what the heck is this?" He opened it, glimpsing the contents. The awesome fox mask he'd found on Jiji's Ultra Secret Delivery Mission, and a horribly pink thermos, with an equally horrible strap accessory: a tiny googly eye fox plush.

" **In the event our objective is not immediately realized, you will need food to keep your energy up,"** Kurama explained. " **Remind me to begin teaching you fuinjutsu. Physical conditioning is one thing, but unnecessary baggage is quite another.** "

"And the mask?"

"To keep our super hero identity a secret, boss. Duh!" The decoy cloned mocked, arms wide and dripping dishwater.

Uzumaki Naruto snorted, gave a one-finger salute, and leapt out of the window, off the nearest railing, and sailed into the night.

* * *

"Teams Six, Ten and Seventeen report negative on contact," Itachi stated, landing silently beside Shisui.

"All three have an Inuzuka. If they don't have a scent either..."

Shisui ground the heels of his hands into his face. "Dozens of teams out there, and nothing. Kumo can shove Chekov's gun in a very dark crevice. Itachi, message to Command: our squad will head to quadrant 4-4-2 before rejoining the northerly sweep. Ask for any available reinforcement. Virtually no intel, and no idea how hard and fast the target's gonna play, with our personnel concentrated elsewhere... I'll be headed as the crow flies. Once you've relayed the reports, meet us directly at coordinates. Dismissed."

Itachi nodded, disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

* * *

Perched firmly on Naruto's shoulder, Kurama's ears twitched as he looked intently ahead. Two distinct chakra signatures. Dead ahead. " **Naruto. Take a hard right, angle 45 degrees to the next branch.** "

The boy nodded, and leapt.

The signatures were slowly but surely fading.

 _ **We can't catch up.**_ Kurama frowned. _**Even if we do... the kit is in no way ready for whoever or whatever the enemy has sent.**_

" **Halt!** " Kurama barked.

Naruto stopped cold on the next branch, windmilling his arms slightly, before nearly doubling over to catch his breath. "What's ( _huff_ ) wrong?"

" **We will not catch up to our quarry. Not like this.** " Naruto deflated slightly.

" **I... have a plan. But to use it or not... that is solely your decision** ," The tiny fox's face was blank, tails flickering gently in the darkness. He leaned forward to whisper in the boy's ear, and Naruto's eyes widened into saucers.

" **I will not force you, kit,** " the fox said baldly.

"...What are the odds of me saving that girl without using _that_?"

The fox shook his head silently.

"... But you guarantee this'll work?"

The fox nodded once, resolute.

"Oi, what are we waiting for?! Let's do this!"

Kurama's tiny muzzle bloomed with a smile full of impossibly sharp teeth.

" **I need you to turn the seal up a notch.** "

* * *

A/N1: Sorry for the delay, but I am happy to announce I have a new beta/editor/proofreader! Thanks for putting up with my bullshit char_custom!

A/N2: I am aware the Hyuuga Affair too place canonically at age 3. Please do not email me about this.

A/N3: Please review :)


	7. The Kumo Affair - Part 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

 **Chapter 7: The Kumo Affair - Part 2**

* * *

Raikage-sama had more than done his part. Fire Country was full of fools, and it was well known the fools cherished three things best: love, peace, and donuts.

Konoha didn't disappoint.

No sir.

Kumo's Head Jounin, Mizono Kenta, and his 'delegation' had sailed into the Hidden Village of Hand-Holding Fools on the Good Ship (Fake) Peace Treaty. Their idiot civilians had cheered and celebrated as the party of 'foreign dignitaries' entered the village gates to proceed directly to the Hokage Tower. Their wrinkled little Hokage and his equally antique-show advisers had hemmed and hawed and wrung their wrinkly little hands. But they still scribbled their scrawls on Raikage-sama's papery diplomatic joke and happily bobbed their wrinkly heads, patting each other's wrinkly little backs.

How droll.

The _shinobi_ of Konoha proved a somewhat different matter. Wary eyes, abruptly ended conversations; a little parade with a few foreigners was enough to distract their blue butt genin, but their jounin and ANBU, and even some chuunin it seemed... a few years did nothing to dim their taste for Lightning Country blood.

But they were still fools. An army of finely honed weapons willingly tied to a worn out Hokage who leashed them all to their _feelings_ and _camraderie_ and _kumbayaaah_.

Prior to his promotion to Head Jounin, Kenta had proven himself ten times over in the Third War. He knew the score. Though one of the most talented Kumonin of his generation, he had been allowed to ride straight into Konoha.

Trot, really.

And here he was, strolling right out with a pure blood Byakugan brat.

Okay, maybe he was massaging the truth.

He was hurtling at top speed back to Lightning Country carrying the Hyuuga heir like a sack of Wave Country oranges.

By the time the tree-huggers raised the alarm, he'd have rounded back halfway to the Frost Country border. And by the time he was back in Kumo getting pat on the back from Raikage-sama, those Konoha fools would still be bumbling around in the forest.

 _Entering the Hyuuga clan compound and nabbing the brat had been a complete joke. A simple D-rank earth jutsu had bypassed all those funny eyed fruitcakes and their precious doujutsu._ He laughed inwardly.

 _Speaking of which..._

Mizono paused on a branch and peeled back a cloth edge on the black bundle tucked under his arm. The unconscious girl was still breathing steadily; still blindfolded, bound, and gagged. She looked barely old enough to strap her own sandals on, but one could never be too careful when it came to international kidnapping endeavors. He tossed the cloth back over her face.

Just as he launched himself once more into the trees, a tidal wave of killing intent rolled into him. Mizono's body spasmed ever so slightly, his feet and chakra control slipping just enough to dump him down towards the forest floor.

Moments blurred into hours, and he watched his feet swing ponderously before him, up and over, even as the rest of his body rotated towards the ground, his already-bandaged head colliding with the branch he'd just been standing on. He twisted hard, instinctively clutching his prize close and manage to land on his feet, sandals thudding dully in the soft forest loam.

Something was out in this damned forest. He whipped out a kunai with his free hand, scanning his surroundings.

"Show yourself or the girl won't stay unharmed!" he called out into the darkness. The hairs on his nape suddenly stood straight up, even as he broke out in a fine sheen of sweat. He'd never felt such powerful, increasingly focused killing intent before. Whatever was producing it would likely catch him regardless of how hard and fast he tried to flee.

A light, mocking laughter pealed out from everywhere and nowhere, shattering the silence. Mizono whirled, nervous and unable to see the source.

"Sending out a blind pup like you... Kumo has fallen far indeed. Tell me, what breed of shinobi simply stands in the open, shouting challenges to his foes?" the voice taunted from the darkness.

 _Mizono whirled again, eyes slowly growing wider as both his eyes, ears, and decades of field experience failed to locate the voice's owner._

 _"_ _...The dead kind," the voice whispered straight into Mizono's ear._

Mizono immediately ducked down while spinning counterclockwise, right leg flying up in a kick. He grunted, foot passing through empty air, but recovered quickly enough to settle back into a defensive stance.

"... _Too slow..."_ The wind whispered, "…You've taken something of mine, but I've already taken it back _."_

Mizono looked down, realizing the bundle beneath his arm had been replaced by a mossy wooden log.

"What!? When...?" He immediately tossed it away from him.

"Uh-uh, that would be telling..." A man finally emerged from the dark, wraith-like, mere feet from Mizono, with the unconscious Hyuuga child held in one arm. Unruly blond hair, standard Konoha hitai-ate, standard Konoha jounin attire plus flak jacket.

Plus one very non-standard high collared white sage cloak, hemmed in red flame. Mizono's eyes bugged.

Impossible.

"Kai!"

"..."

"Kai!"

"..."

"KAAAAI!" Mizono stabbed his hand clear through with his kunai in desperation. He looked back up, and the Yellow Flash was gone.

Mizono let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. _I knew it. Just a damned genjutsu_.

"... Is that all you're taught in Kumo? We've much better genjutsu-dispelling methods in Konoha."

Mizono twist to his left, flinching. The Yondaime Hokage was leaning against a pale birch, still holding the girl with one arm, lazily twirling a three-pronged kunai with the other hand.

"I guess this is the part where you shout 'You're dead! Inconceivable!'" The Yondaime's slight smile quirked.

"Im-impossible! You _are_ dead!" Mizono shouted. He pulled out a second kunai. "Both your Sandaime Hokage and daimyo announced it! There was a funeral and..." Mizono trailed off in horror. The Yondaime looked on with pity.

"You lied, You tree-hugging scum lied about the Demon Fox attacking the village and your death..." Mizono whispered as realization dawned.

"Oh no. That part is quite true. The Kyuubi _did_ attack Konoha, but I stopped it. Oh, yes. And I made it my very own," the Yondaime grinned wide.

"No... no..." Mizono shook his head in denial and whimpered, "That's not even..."

"And why is that so hard to believe? You Kumo nin are all the same, saying _this isn't possible_ , _that isn't possible_. Live a little! Dream big!" The pupil of the Yondaime's baby blues elongated into a vertical slit even as they coalesced into an ugly molten red.

A cloak of dark orange chakra bubbled angrily from his body, coating him head to toe. It contracted slightly and without warning, exploded in a massive shock wave, tossing Mizono hard against a tree.

The Kumo nin gasped, choking on blood and pain as he slid to the ground.

Wreathed in raw chakra fire, the Yondaime blinked out of existence only to materialize less then a meter away from the frightened Kumo nin. Mizono shrieked as the demon fox prince leaned down to lift the man by the throat with a clawed, burning hand. Nine distinct tails of chakra unfurled behind the monstrosity and wavered gently. The shrieking died in Mizono's throat as he felt his body go cold, and a detached calm bled in.

" **HEAR ME, AND HEAR ME WELL!** " The demon prince roared, " **THESE ARE** _ **MY**_ **LANDS,** _ **MY**_ **FORESTS, AND** _ **MY**_ **PRECIOUS PEOPLE! YOU WOULD DO WELL TO REMEMBER THE FATE OF IWA, YOU FILTHY KUMO GARBAGE.** "

Iwa had a total route in the Third Secret War.

Actually, no.

Konoha had massacred them like a five year old with a pudding cup. And it was this horrid thing dangling him like a slab of beef, _before it had become this horrid thing_ , that had single-handedly demolished in one sitting, the pudding cup that had been Iwa's elite ninja corps.

The demon smiled now, with a face full of razor sharp fangs. In his deathly, cold-bodied calm, Mizono wondered if the demon sometimes swallowed loose teeth like a shark when it ate.

"… m-monster..." Mizono gasped as he struggled more frantically, trying to peel himself free. The demon-Yondaime abruptly released his grip, dumping the terrified man face down. He scrambled away, somehow righting himself, blindly scooting away until his back bumped into a tree.

"A monster you say? I'll show you a monster..."

From the gloom, two enormous smoldering orbs, looking remarkably like eyes, appeared some distance behind the demon-Yondaime. Two great orange paws with fire-blackened claws emerged as well, setting down one on each side of the man.

And as Mizono stared at the giant eyes, they came closer, set in the face of an immense fox. It began laughing at him, harsh and hollow, and Mizono found he could take no more.

"NO! NOOO! STAY AWAY FROM ME!" He screamed as he grabbed a fallen branch, swinging wildly at the approaching fox demon.

Dozens upon dozens of tiny flickering red eyes appeared in the shadows now.

The terrible fox roared as it pounced. The last thing Mizono saw was a yawning wet chasm of flesh and teeth closing around him. He screamed, and the last thing to go through his mind was his own teeth.

* * *

The chakra flames dispersed as Kurama turned inward, relinquishing control back to his container.

 _I might be going out on a limb here, but I'd say you went a tad overkill._

Naruto stared at the insensate shinobi at his feet. The man had foamed slightly at the mouth, and his one visible eye had rolled back in its socket.

 _ **It worked. I fail to see the flaw in my performance.**_ Kurama sulked.

 _It's a wonder the guy didn't pee himself. I guess the Yondaime was a real badass, huh?_

 _ **Sometimes, kit, its not how much strength you have that matters, but how much strength your enemies BELIEVE you have.**_

Naruto scratched his head. _Like... that puffy fish? It gets all spiky and twice as big?_

 _ **Exactly kit. Exactly. Now let's return this young miss back to her den before she wakes and sees your face.**_

Naruto held onto the Hyuuga heiress as he released his Yondaime henge, his body rapidly deflating back to its true size in a puff of smoke.

He looked down at the girl in the pink kimono that he was holding bridal style. Instead of seeing a sleeping face with closed eyes, a pair of wide-open lavender eyes stared back at him in wonder.

 _ **Well... shit**_ _,_ _demon and host_ thought together.

* * *

Hinata Hyuuga stared in silent wonder at the blond boy who was setting her gently on the forest floor to remove the kidnapper's bindings.

"Um... this is kind of awkward. My name is Uzumaki Naruto," the boy rubbed the back of his neck, nervously facing her in a low crouch. "And, uh, it would be really, really, super duper awesome if you didn't tell anyone what you just saw."

"... I d-didn't see what I j-just s-s-saw..." Hinata nodded, finding herself strangely enamored with the boy's cerulean eyes and the six strange whisker markings on his cheeks.

Awkward silence filled the air, until Hinata shivered slightly at the cold.

"Oh! You must be cold. Hold on a sec," the wonderful boy named Naruto pulled his shoulder pack off, lifting out a pink thermos. He unscrewed the cup cap to pour a slightly lumpy, steaming liquid. "Here you go. Be careful, it's still pretty hot!"

Hinata nodded dumbly as she took the proffered cup. She blew lightly at it, and the sweet vapors wafted to her nose. Red bean soup? She took a careful slurping sip, never taking her eyes from the boy before her.

The sweet red bean soup tasted exactly the way her mother had made it. Tiny tears rolled down her cheeks as her mother's memory flooded her.

Naruto panicked.

"I'm sorry! Does it... does it taste bad? Did you burn your tongue?" He apologized with an openly guilty look and a hand moved up to take the cup back.

"N-no... th-this is very d-delicious." She shook her head shyly, clutching the cup tighter as she tried to compose herself.

Naruto had dug a small kerchief from a pocket and held it out to her. She took it gladly and gently dabbed her face dry.

The uncomfortable silence settled again.

"N-n-naruto-sama?" She blushed as the boy stared straight back at her.

"Uh, call me Naruto okay? Just Naruto." The blond smiled cheerfully, checking their surroundings.

"O-Okay. Naruto." Hinata blushed.

 _First name basis! How awfully forward of me!_ Her little four year old heart hammered.

"N-naruto, w-what did you m-mean by be-belonging to y-you? And wuh-what did you me-mean by pre-precious p-people?" She asked, her voice ringing clear with innocent hope.

Startled by the question, Naruto didn't answer and instead stared into the shadowy forest behind her.

"N-naruto?"

The boy shot to his feet and dusted invisible snow off his pants.

"OhlookatthetimehelphasarrivedIbettergetgoingow," he blurted, preparing to rocket off into the forest.

"W-wait! Y-your s-soup thermos!" She called out frantically after him, hoping against hope that the wonderful boy with the wonderful smile might stay even a moment longer. She hastily screwed the cap back on, and thrust it out to him.

Naruto turned back, his eyes momentarily glazed over as if in introspection. Rather than taking the offered thermos she held, he wrapped his hands over hers. She gasped a little at the warmth he radiated, shivering slightly.

"No, it's yours now." Hinata's eyes went wide. "It's your birthday, isn't it? It's not much, but please accept this, Hinata-chan. It can be our little secret, okay?"

He winked and directed that incredible smile at her. It was all she could do just to move her head up and down in a dumb nod, what with her heart pounding so hard she thought it might burst from her chest. A literal bursting would be gruesome, but in her mind's eye, it was all sparkles and a world-spanning rainbow, at the end of which was a giant pink thermos and mind-melting blue eyes.

He let go of her hands and the thermos, leaving the spot in a powerful leap and a flip onto the branch above her.

"Ja ne!" He threw her a jaunty little wave, and as she waved back, he leapt again, and vanished into the night.

 _He called me Hinata-chan! Hinata-_ CHAN _!_

She sat down, huddled up in the kidnapper's black cloth, fingering the thermos and the little plush fox she found attached to it, as her blush slowly turned a dark and darker crimson.

Five seconds later, the heiress of the esteemed Hyuuga clan fainted.

* * *

 _ **Just a head's up kit; telling someone your name and then asking them to forget about it is a pretty piss poor method of keeping a secret**_ _._

 _SHUT UP! I just... lost my bearings for a second!_

Loud laughter echoed in Naruto's mind-scape before falling silent.

 _ **Mn... a shining knight saving a princess in distress... how nostalgic.**_ Kurama sighed, recalling Minato's long-ago mission to recover Kushina.

 _You did all the saving, not me. And shinobi aren't supposed to 'shine'._ Naruto grumbled as he took a circuitous route back to the apartment.

 _ **Don't worry. In the future it will all be your own strength. You're just a kit, after all.**_

Naruto grinned.

 _ **Oh, and good going ladykiller.**_

 _What._

 _ **She is a good match. I can tell that shy little kit is going to mature into a fine vixen.**_

 _WHAT?_

 _ **Good hips are important. Once you two kits are old enough to dig a deg, I bet she will be more than willing to bear you a litter or two healthy kits, if you just ask nicely.**_

 _Ugh. Doesn't marriage usually come before kids?_

 _ **Contemplating marriage so soon? Could it be love? HOW PRECIOUSSS! My widdle Nawu-chan is in lu~u~urve!**_

Naruto groaned. Damned merciless fox demon.

Deep in the shared mindscape, Kurama's great paw brushed away a mock tear _._ _**Ah... kits mature so fast these day. One moment they're unweaned and you've just eaten the umbilicus, and the next they're heading their own pack, sniffing after females.**_

 _Sh-shut up! You... YOU ERO-KITSUNE!_

Kurama roared with laughter.

* * *

Shisui leaped down from the trees to carefully approach the unconscious lump that was the Kumo 'ambassador'.

He toed him. Satisfied that the man wasn't dead or playing possum, Shisui promptly gave him a swift, ungentle kick in the ass before disarming and binding him hand and foot.

He then hurried over to the tiny Hyuuga heiress crumpled nearby in a quiet heap. He unwrapped the black cloth around her to begin a rudimentary first aid check.

 _Even breathing, pulse normal, no apparently wounds. Looks like she's completely unharmed, outside being unconscious._

He suddenly ducked down over the girl. A kunai screamed through the air Shisui's head had occupied a fraction of a second prior. The Uchiha rolled forward into a crouch, sword hand lightly gripping the hilt of the tanto sheathed on his back.

"How dare you harm Hinata-sama?! Remove yourself at once!" a long haired Hyuuga demanded from a nearby tree.

Shisui ignored the man's demand. He recognized dawned after a moment's study of the Hyuuga's face, and he promptly re-sheathed the partially drawn tanto with a slight click, before slowly holding his hands up.

"Hyuuga Hizashi, right?" Shisui asked. A tense second passed in silence.

"... Ah. I apologize for attacking you, Uchiha Shisui-san." Hizashi gave a quick bow.

The Uchiha wasn't particularly surprised the other man recognized him. All Konoha's shinobi clans kept privately compiled profiles on prominent members of the other clans. The Hyuuga were no exception.

"Hey, no harm, no foul. But to answer your question, I was just checking for injuries, after I finished up over there," Shisui jerked his chin at the unconscious Kumo nin. "She's out like a light, but she seems fine otherwise."

Hizashi nodded in relief, landing softly beside Hinata. Her tiny hands were clenched around a pink thermos he'd never seen before, but closer inspection revealed only some warm red bean soup. He scooped her up gently, and looked to Shisui.

"If you take her yourself to get checked out at the hospital, it'd save me a trip. I'll let Command know after I deposit buddy-boy here with Hokage-sama."

"I will. Thank you, Uchiha-san. I will bid you good night then," Hizashi dipped his head in acknowledgment to Shisui as he walked sedately over to the Kumo nin. Shisui tensed. The Hyuuga briefly studied the captive, before his eyes hardened and his foot snapped out in a low kick. Right into the nin's man bits.

A low, broken groan rang out into the clearing. Hizashi shifted Hinata in his arms, before leaping into the woods back to Konoha.

Shisui winced.

"Itachi-kun. You can come out now," he called out to the trees.

The boy slipped out on a high branch overlooking the clearing.

"How long have you been there?" Shisui barked out.

"... Long enough to see you required no aid."

"Well, get your scrawny butt down here and help me carry this bastard."

Shisui grabbed the man's legs as Itachi hopped down and hefted up the man's torso by the armpits.

"Kami, this S.O.B. is heavy," he huffed.

Itachi looked over his shoulder at his cousin. "... We are five klicks from the village."

"Itachi."

"Yes, Shisui-nii?"

"I really, _really_ hate you sometimes."

"I know, Shisui-nii. I know."

* * *

Hizashi stood in the hospital waiting room. One foot tapped in an impatient rhythm as he fought the urge to ram down the examination room door. He settled for trying to burn a hole through the door with his eyes, and felt he was on the verge of success.

A scuffle down the hall at the nurses station drew his attention. A young nurse darted out from behind the counter.

Suddenly, a tense Hiashi turned the corner, about to storm down the corridor. The frantic nurse followed hot on his heels.

"Sir, please, wait a mome-" she called out.

Hiashi pivoted, and the woman cowered in the full face of his fury.

Hizashi slid hurriedly between his brother and the unfortunate nurse, just as Hiashi opened his mouth to berate her.

" _Where is my daughter? I DEMAND TO SEE HER!_ " He turned and grabbed Hizashi, screaming as he shook him.

"She's fine, brother," Hizashi gently peeled his brother's hands from his shoulders. "The attending doctor said she preliminarily appears to be in perfect health, but went ahead with a comprehensive evaluation after she regained consciousness. It's just a precaution. They will be finished shortly."

Hiashi stared for a long moment, then hugged him tightly.

"I'm sorry, Hiashi. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Hiashi," Hizashi repeated over and over, tears running wild down his cheeks.

Slightly shocked at the sudden, raw outpouring, Hizashi awkwardly patted his brother's back.

"...Uh... there, there. it's fine aniue. It's fine. We're family, after all."

Crushing his brother in a back-breaking hug, the Hyuga clan head cried even harder.

* * *

"Y'know, this was supposed to be my weekend off, but noooo. You got me out here draggin' your heavy ass through the snow in the forest with your bandages stickin' out back. You gotta sneak around, actin' all stealthy... " Shisui grunted.

He lifted head and sniffed the air and his face seized with rage.

"AND WHAT IS THAT SMELL?"

Shisui dropped the Kumo-nin before turning around and delivering two hard kicks to the man's torso. The unconscious man groaned, but did not respond otherwise.

"I COULD HAVE BEEN AT A BARBEQUE! WITH MIKU!" Shisui screamed at the unconscious man.

He picked the man's legs again, suddenly calm again.

"But I ain't mad."

"Shisui-nii."

"What?!"

"Why are we carrying him when we could have sealed him inside a scroll?"

Silence.

"FUCK!"

Animals scattered and startled flocks of birds took to the sky in a six kilometer radius.

* * *

Four days later, the Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen gazed out over the village from his office windows. At his back were six men; three stood at attention, one knelt bound and chained, and the last two were ANBU with an iron grip on the kneeling man's bindings.

Sarutobi took a long pull on his pipe, puffing slowly as the sun rose over the eastern wall of the village.

"Jounin Mizono Kenta of Kumogakure. After extensive investigation, you are hereby found guilty of the following charges: one count of abduction of a civilian minor, one count of attempted unlawful transportation of a civilian minor, one count of breaking and entering, five counts of trespassing, and twenty-three counts of assault on registered shinobi while resisting confinement. Multiple felony charges necessitate consecutive sentencing of no less than twenty years of imprisonment and hard labor. How do you plead?"

Mizono's lips pressed tight in a grim line as he stared at the floor in silence.

"However." Sarutobi turned to peer at the former Head Jounin. "You might be please to hear we have informed Raikage-dono of the situation. He has acquiesced to altering certain terms of the proffered treaty in Konoha's favor, in exchange for your safe return to Lightning Country."

Mizono blinked slowly and looked up.

"... And I have agreed to these concessions. Once we have come to an agreement on and then signed the treaty, you will be released with the original dignitary party to return to your village. Considering the events that have transpired, you will understand if we place you and your party under twenty-four hour guard, yes?"

The Kumo nin nodded vigorously. Sarutobi waved to the ANBU and they gripped the man by the biceps to hoist him up. Mizono bowed as much as he could in gratitude while being frogmarched out of the Hokage's office.

The doors closed quietly behind them. Sarutobi turned to face the three remaining men.

"Well?"

Uchiha Shisui and Hyuuga Hizashi glanced warily at one another in confusion, before looking to the Hokage. Itachi simply stood at attention, silent.

"Sir?"

The old man angrily set his pipe down with a hard clack.

"Don't give me that! You three were the first on the scene. What happened out there that night?!" Sarutobi glared hard at the two wilting men and one stolid boy.

"We submitted our mission reports immediately upon return, Hokage-sama." Itachi's head tilted slightly in acknowledgment.

" _I'VE READ YOUR KAMI-DAMNED REPORTS_!" Sarutobi snapped, and the three flinched like puppies caught piddling on the office's carpet. Sarutobi sighed, "But... if your reports are truly accurate, and none of you had opportunity to stop him, by all rights that man should be long gone to Lightning Country. Instead, the miscreant is locked up in his hotel room with two squads of ANBU watching in case he so much as farts the wrong way!" A wrinkled finger jabbed at them accusingly.

"Uh, well..." Shisui began intelligently.

" _Well_ what, boy? Spit it out!"

"I, uh, recall detecting a faint chakra signature heading away from the location at which we located the Hyuuga girl," Shisui nervously admitted. "I made no effort to investigate it at the time as our primary and secondary objectives were already secured and awaiting transport back to the village."

"Leaving Hinata-sama alone with the kidnapper would have been folly," Hizashi stated.

"Yes, yes it would have been," Sarutobi rubbed a temple. Shisui breathed a sign of relief and made a mental note to thank the Hyugua later.

"I am not angry with you three. In fact, I am very pleased you recovered Hyuuga Hinata and the ambassador without issue. What perturbs me is the undetected appearance, and subsequent disappearance, of what is most likely an unregistered shinobi of substantial prowess right in the heart of Fire Country, and possibly Konoha itself. This person seems to have effortlessly subdued one of Kumo's foremost nin without leaving behind so much a single shred of evidence."

The men digested the information silently as Sarutobi furiously puffed on his pipe.

"Knowledge of this mysterious benefactor does not leave this office, for now. You are all dismissed."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi watched as they meekly bowed and filed out of his office.

 _I'm getting too old for this shit._

* * *

 **OMAKE**

In the following week, patrols caught one Uchiha Shisui rifling through ANBU archives no less than thirteen times. When brought before both his superior office and the Director of ANBU, he eagerly imparted that he was searching for the contact information of a teenage girl, perhaps 15-16 years of age, with notably long turquoise green hair and eyes, and _taicho, Director-san, I promised her a lunch date but I don't even know her number, help a guy out!_

Considering Shisui's on-duty dedication and relatively flawless service record, the Director was tending towards mercy for the Uchiha's love-life. But snooping was snooping, so he had to get creative to arrive at a punishment that was harmless yet horrific.

Shisui was sentenced to one month of enforced training with fellow jounin Maito Gai. When he attempted to decline Gai's training 'gift' of a green spandex bodysuit, two ANBU guards emerged from the treeline, shaking their heads. He reluctantly clutched the green monstrosity and turned towards a high hedge to change clothes.

Three days later, Shisui appeared before the Director wearing the now-ruined green bodysuit. Twitching and stuttering, he swore repeatedly to never set an unauthorized foot in archives again, if they'd _just let him go_.

At the end of the week, the Hokage himself intervened, citing the punishment as 'cruel, unusual, yet effective.'

Shisui never uttered 'youth' again, in any circumstance or context, to his dying day.

* * *

A/N: Please review. :) Next chapter slightly delayed as I will be on a business trip out of country.

Editor/Beta/Ghostwriter/Waffler Extraordinaire Note:

I hope you have enjoyed this chapter.

It inflated six pages from the original raw draft I was presented with, and ended up surpassing the due date :

\- char custom


	8. Clan Loyalty

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

 **Chapter 8: Clan Loyalty**

The sun set slowly in the west as the Sandaime Hokage stared at a set of Polaroids a patrolling ANBU had just presented him with. Each photo showed one of the great faces carved into the Hokage Monument looming directly behind the Hokage Tower complex.

The first photo was of Senju Hashirama. Two artfully trimmed pines sprouted out beneath his nostrils; the evergreen foliage curled in a thick handlebar moustache.

The second photo featured Senju Tobirama, sporting a lushly green Fu Manchu. At both ends of his grimly pressed lips were long, tapering cascades of lady ferns, and a third tapering curtain sprouting from his chin.

The next photo was of Namikaze Minato. Small thickets of bamboo sprouted angrily from his nostrils and ears.

Lastly, Sarutobi Hiruzen saw the photo of his own stone visage. In a way, he had suffered the least desecration; thick moss covered his carven hair. He looked like a damned Chia pet.

A weak explosion rang out from somewhere in the village, and Sarutobi lifted his eyes to look out the wide bay of windows.

He sighed as a tiny, yellowy-orange blur darted over nearby rooftops, with four larger blueish blobs in hard pursuit.

In a moment of kismet, the smallest blur came to a halt, and the seven year old boy looked up to the Hokage's office windows. As their eyes met, the boy waved. Sarutobi caught himself waving back with a smile even as the blond boy grinned wider.

An eyeblink later, the four large blurs proved to be four flak jacketed chuunin, slowing only minutely before dogpiling the waving boy. After a tense few moments, the four men stood to surveil their prize, and Sarutobi's brow creased in concern at the sight of the motionless jinchuuriki... until a pop of smoke enveloped the brat, leaving a battered wooden log in his place.

After some rude gesticulations and angry huffing, three of the now very irritated chuunin split up to renew the search, while the fourth lingered to shake his fist at the darkening sky and shout.

 **"I'LL GET YOU NARUTO! EVEN IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!"**

Sarutobi shook his head, dismissed the ANBU in his office, and refilled his pipe for the walk over to ANBU headquarters.

* * *

The spartan, uniformly rectangular cafeteria on the second floor of the ANBU building was strangely subdued, despite being packed wall to wall. Sarutobi glanced to the wallclock above the service tables; still half an hour to dinner rush. A quick peer around the room reiterated this; the majority of his porcelain-masked shinobi had neither dinner trays nor a drink before them. When they happened to make eye contact with him as he scanned the room, they furtively dropped their eyes and looked away.

He shook his head, making his way to the back of the room near the service tables. A slouched, dog-masked ANBU sat near the announcement board. The silvery haired ANBU immediately rose as Sarutobi approached, snapping to an overly rigid attention. He gave Sarutobi the overall impression of a three year old with crumbs on his face and both fists in the cookie jar.

"... How may I serve, Hokage-sama?"

"Who is on Monument patrol duty today, Dog?"

The dog masked ANBU grabbed a clipboard dangling from the announcement board, scanning the top page.

"That would be Chuunin Umino Iruka, leading Patrol 17, sir."

"Is that so?" Sarutobi stroked his goatee thoughtfully. He sighed and dug in his robe, pulling out his worn leather wallet.

"Here's three hundred ryo... on Naruto," Sarutobi left the notes on the adjacent sidetable, then replaced his wallet and strolled out of the cafeteria.

As soon as the double doors swung closed behind him, the room erupted in shouts, jeers, and cheers.

The Sandaime Hokage began the stroll back to his office, stroking his beard and already mentally counting his winnings.

* * *

Secreted away in an isolated corner of Konoha, a gathering of men argued heatedly. Lit dimly by a handful of candles, they were seated evenly around the periphery of the room, shadows flickering over the varying blue and grey and white shades of their kimono.

The clan head, flanked by both an empty seat cushion and his firstborn heir, watched his clansmen in silence. His fingers drummed on the low circular table, even as his eyes flicked from the ancient banner on one wall, bearing their embroidered clan emblem, to the tokonoma in the opposite wall, featuring an ikebana of evergreen and winterberry.

"How long must we suffer this outr-"

"Calm yourself!"

"There's no reas-"

"We are the strongest clan in Konoha! Why are-"

Uchiha Fugaku slowly raised his hand up, and the room quickly settled into silence.

"I am aware many amongst us are dissatisfied with the current standing of our clan. Though we, by ancient agreement with the barely-extant Senju, are a keystone of this village, we have lost much and more in the time since the Kyuubi's attack."

The Uchiha clan council nodded in agreement, though some more angrily than others. Fugaku continued on.

"Despite our operation of the Konoha Military Police Force, a charge laid to us by Nidaime-sama himself, we are still viewed with suspicion by a majority of the other clans, despite whatever the civilians may think. And now... now we know _why_."

He pulled a scroll from his sleeve and threw it hard on the floor. The wood of the roller clattered as it bounced and the parchment unfurled.

The councilmen slowly clustered around the scroll to read it, whispering. Whispering gave way to arguing, and arguing gave way to outright howling.

"How did you acquire this, Fugaku?" an older councilman looked up to ask.

"My son, Itachi," Fugaku nodded to his left. Itachi dipped his head in quiet acknowledgement. "The boy was searching ANBU archives for mission related documents, and came across it. In the face of the mounting clan-village frictions we've been facing, he felt it necessary to discreetly copy and deliver this to us."

"How dare _anyone_ think we had something to do with that demon's attack?!"

More shouts of agreement, anger.

Itachi chose this moment to break his silence. "Given the evidence now before us, it may be prudent to entertain the possibility that the Kyuubi's assault was orchestrated by a holder of the Sharingan. Our current situation of discord is likely an intended outcome planned by this unknown puppeteer."

"That's even more ridiculous! You'd have us impugn our own clan's honor!" another councilman shouted.

"It's impossible, Itachi. All our clansmen, living _and_ dead, are accounted for. Even that no-account Hatake thief," Fugaku said, cutting them all off. "The fact of the matter is, we now have conclusive, _hard_ evidence of Sandaime-sama's dismissal of not only our strength, but our sacrifices for this village."

Heads nodded in agreement. One spoke out.

"Following this, what should we do?"

"I believe..." Fugaku began, "...I believe that if Sandaime-sama trusts even less than Nidaime-sama did, then he does not deserve our trust in turn."

"... Thusly, as shinobi, we must be prepared to strike before they strike us."

The council members digested their clan head's words in disquiet. Slowly, one after another nodded.

Fugaku smiled faintly. The pieces were falling into place.

"But, otousan," Itachi shifted agitatedly, "there is no evidence to suggest that Hokage-sama will commit to anything of the sort."

"It is expected of my son, to bring such information before the clan," Fugaku paused, frowning. "But you must remember your place as my heir, and trust your elders to arrive at the correct decision."

"Yes, otousan," the young Uchiha bowed his head in shy submission. "Please forgive my rude outburst."

His father nodded faintly, then turned back to his fellow Uchiha. "Now, we must begin by renewing our surveillance efforts regarding the other clans; specifically, the clan heads and their heirs. As we comprise the bulk of the Military Police, this can be accomplished under fairly low profile."

"What about the ANBU? Or even those rumored ROOT bastards under Shimura's thumb?"

"Have you forgotten already?" Fugaku shook his head. "My son has proven his strength and skill as a jounin, and already stands in trusted officership amongst the Hokage's masked muppets, Sakumo's spawn included. If a boy can rise so highly amongst the village 'elite', then I believe it will be a simple matter for the clan itself to subdue them _all_ when the time comes... don't you agree, my son?"

"As you say, otousan," Itachi deferred blankly.

"And when the time is right, we will be prepared to remove that senile fool of a Hokage," Fugaku continued on, to much head bobbing.

"Otousan, if I may ask," Itachi asked hesitantly, "whom will you replace Sandaime-sama with?"

"I nominate our own clan head, Fugaku-san," an elderly man called out. "It was we Uchiha, with the Senju, who gathered the rabble into the Konoha of today. In the absence of a Senju, it's only right for us to take the hat."

"Hear, hear! I second this."

"I also!"

"It is our right!"

"Then, by the will of our clan, I can only humbly accept this nominaiton," Fugaku bowed in a partial dogeza. "I swear to protect our clan, to cultivate our strength, and to ensure our continued glory. Our ancestors built this village, and by the blood we shed to protect it, it shall continue to live on. Without us, Konoha is nothing. The clan comes before the village... but if the Uchiha lead the village, the village becomes the clan. By submitting to our rule, the village can only become stronger."

Fugaku looked to his fellow Uchiha in the meeting chamber, heads nodding in agreement and simmering resentment. His eyes lingered only on his son, still and subdued.

"See quickly to the preparation of your families, and ready those under your direct command. When the opportunity presents itself, we will be ready to strike at a moment's notice. You are all dismissed."

The men filed out, leaving their clan head with grim nods or statements of affirmation. But Fugaku was more concerned with his own heir.

 _I must keep my wayward son close._

* * *

A man with an unruly mop of dark hair made a hasty forward combat roll through the front entrance of the Uchiha clan compound, a hail of kunai screaming through the air his head would have occupied, had he still been walking.

Shisui unfurled into a crouch as he reached out with both arms wide open, to catch the shrieking blue and white blur sailing straight at him. He caught the boy in a loose armlock, bopping his head lightly before setting him down on the packed dirt.

"Owwww, Shisui-nii!" the overly eager boy whined.

Shisui only laughed and bopped the boy's head again. "That's what you get for trying to my face into a pin cushion!"

"... Sasuke...? Sasuke!" A woman's voice called out gently from further in the compound.

The young boy at Shisui's feet looked up sharply. "Hahaue! Over here! Look who I found!"

A slender woman rounded the corner, long black hair done up in a modest bun and wearing a simple apron over a dusky blue kimono.

"Good afternoon, Mikoto-san," Shisui bowed his head politely as she approached him.

Mikoto responded with a warm smile and hugged him. "How have you been? We hardly see you anymore, not since you moved away. Are you eating well?"

"I'm a grown man now, Mikoto-san," Shisui thumped his chest proudly. "I'm perfectly capable of looking out for myself!"

She slanted him a wary glance, then gave the air a light sniff. "Is that... perfume I smell?"

"Uhh... yeah. I met... a... uh, friend... and decided to treat her out to lunch at that new place a street over from the Jounin Station," the younger Uchiha laughed nervously.

Mikoto arched a brow, "I didn't know you had the kind of friend that leaves lipstick on collars."

Shisui exploded in a blush, tugginng awkwardly on his collar for the supposedly lipstick stain, only for her words to really process a moment later.

"Ah dammit, Mikoto-san, how do you always do that?" he groaned as Mikoto giggled.

"What's Shisui-nii doing with lipstick, hahaue? Isn't that for girls?" Sasuke asked as he hung of his mother's apron like a monkey.

"You're right, dear. Lipstick is for girls. But it's nothing you need worry about," Mikoto patted the boy's head, before looking to his cousin. "My husband is awaiting you in his study, please go on ahead."

"Thanks, Mikoto-san, Sasuke-kun. See ya!" Shisui sped off, grateful to be spared further opportunity to embarrass himself.

Sasuke made to follow, only for his mother's slim hand to shoot out, firmly nabbing his shirt. He slumped guiltily, before cranking his head back to see she hadn't even bothered to face him.

"Sasuke-chan... perhaps you can explain why there are all these kunai in the compound gate?"

"... Um..." Put on the spot, Sasuke racked his tiny brain in futility for a plausible cover story.

As each moment of silence ticked by, the sky rapidly darkened, and an ominous red aura flared to life around Uchiha Mikoto. She hoisted her son up and around, face-to-face, and blazing crimson eyes bored into the panicking boy's bloodless face.

"Uchiha Sasuke... what have I told you about setting traps in public areas?" A low, gravelly voice welled from from his mother's dainty lips.

Shisui entered the clan head's home, and slipped the front door closed behind him, abruptly cutting off Sasuke's scream.

* * *

The Uchiha clan head beckoned towards the seat cushions opposite him at the low table. Shisui obeyed, watching as Fugaku carefully poured out cups of tea.

"Shisui. You have come to be close to my son, Itachi, yes?" He held out a steaming cup to Shisui.

"It is as you say, Fugaku-sama," Shisui accepted it with a dip of the head.

"Since the last clan meeting, Itachi's behaviour has been... strange," Fugaku stated.

Shisui sipped a little tea. "Strange... how?"

"He rarely returns home, and when he does chance to, his words are few and far between," Fugaku frowned into his steaming cup.

"What... would you ask of me, Fugaku-sama?"

Fugaku sighed. "I'll not mince words with you. I want you to keep an eye on the boy, and report any... unusual behaviour... immediately."

"You're asking me to spy on your own son," Shisui deadpanned, slanted him a look, then sighed. "Define 'unusual'."

Fugaku's frown deepened. "Not spying, so much as... concerned surveillance for my son's welfare. Who the boy spends his time with, and if possible, observation of his off-duty activities. His recent attitude suggests he is drifting away from the clan, no longer placing the proper priority on the clan's well-being."

"With all due respect, Fugaku-sama, Itachi is a loyal shinobi of Konoha," Shisui said firmly.

"Loyal to Konoha, undoubtedly, but what of loyalty to the clan? All I ask is that you serve the clan as it serves you," Fugaku countered sourly. "Can you be relied upon for this task, or not?"

"I am Uchiha, Fugaku-sama," Shisui nodded firmly.

"Excellent. You may go," Fugaku turned away, appearing marginally less like he'd sucked on a rancid toad.

Shisui left the room, sliding the shoji softly shut behind him. He quietly left the clan head's house, beelining from the Uchiha compound gates to Konoha's market district. He slipped into an alleyway behind a small teahouse, just off the main thoroughfare.

"How did it go?" A voice asked from the shadows.

"Exactly as you expected," Shisui said disappointedly, toeing a crate of empty sake bottles.

Itachi stepped out from the shadows of a shallow alcove. "I had hoped presenting the information you chanced across could help bridge the gap between us and the rest of the village, or at the least, partially soothe the elders' distrust of the village establishment... but it seems I've vastly underestimated clan arrogance," Itachi's dark eyes closed wearily, mouth set in a grim line.

"Hokage-sama must be informed," Shisui said with a grimace.

"Agreed."

* * *

The two young Uchiha sat, shifting nervously, in the chairs lined just outside the Hokage's office. The last gatekeeper to the most esteemed shinobi in all of Konohagakure, the Hokage's ancient secretary sat perched behind her desk just outside his office doors like some stiff-necked, stone faced harpy.

"This is suicide. Just so you know," Shisui whispered to Itachi.

"The Hokage must know. The clan does not come before the village," Itachi murmured back.

"Your illustrious, but short, shinobi career will end as an avant garde smear of red on Hokage-sama's office wall, when you tell him you copied a classified scroll for the clan, Itacchan."

"... Only after Hokage-sama signs you over to T&I, to waste away in Morino-san's tender care, for first coming across said scroll in an effort to find Miku-san's contact information," Itachi rebutted.

Shisui gulped.

Ten agonizing minutes later, the doors to the the Hokage's office finally opened, and two identical Hyuuga men exited, followed shortly by the faintly smiling Sandaime.

Being the only extant identical twins in the entire Hyuuga clan, Shisui recognized the men easily; the relaxed brother was the younger Hizashi, and the stiff stick-in-the-mud cum clan head was the older brother, Hiashi. The two young Uchiha stood quickly to bow respectfully in greeting. The Hyuuga bowed briefly in return, before turning their attentions back to Sarutobi.

"It truly warms this old man's heart to see you fine young men striving to bridge the ancient gap between the two branches of your clan. I will recall my student at once, to aid you in modifying your Soke no Juinjutsu."

"We cannot express our gratitude deeply enough, Hokage-sama," the two men shook Sarutobi's hand firmly, before finally bowing once more in farewell and exiting the office antechamber.

The aged secretary cleared her throat as the Hokage pulled out his pipe. "Hokage-sama, ANBU operatives Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi request an audience with you. There are ten minutes until your next scheduled visitor," she announced crisply.

"There is always time to hear from my shinobi," he beckoned them to follow, already packing his pipe. "Why don't we step inside my office?"

* * *

Sarutobi rubbed his temples as he sat facing the two Uchiha.

 _So much for the golden days of retirement._

He watched a small flock of sparrows flit over the village, before sighing and reaching over to the intercom console.

"Reschedule my remaining appointments for the day, and summon for Shimura Danzo. Tell him it's urgent."

"At once, Hokage-sama."

Five minutes of uncomfortable, pipe-puffing silence later, the heavily bandaged Danzo limped into the office, cane in tow.

"Hiruzen."

"Thank you for your timely arrival, Danzo. Please, be seated," Sarutobi gestured to one of the office guest chairs. "There is a certain situation. Tell him what you have told me, Itachi."

Itachi detailed once more the previous night's Uchiha clan council meeting, with occasional elaboration from Shisui. Sarutobi meanwhile stood to drift once more to the windows and puff away quietly.

Through it all, Danzo appeared unbothered. A beat after Itachi finished his summary, the older man rose and approached the Hokage desk, producing a medium sized scroll from one kimono sleeve. He unrolled it slowly, before stepping back to allow Sarutobi and the two Uchiha to examine its contents.

After scanning it, the Hokage's brow furrowed, and he looked up to Danzo.

"For how long have you anticipated plans of a coup from the Uchiha?"

"I've expected it for some time, but until this, I could find no substantial cause for suspicion," Danzo replied. "In all fairness, this is a generalized coup contingency. Though it is concerned primarily with clan-fueled usurpation of village control, it is not tailored to a specific clan or clans. I found long ago that I prefer not to be caught unaware or without plan."

Sarutobi nodded in tired agreement, reading slowly through the rest of the scroll's details. When he apparently read enough, he sank back into his chair to match eyes with his old comrade.

"Time appears to limit our options. We either act in anticipation or in response," he turned his head to look at the two young men. "What are your thoughts on the matter? You are Uchiha, after all."

Itachi looked to Shisui, then to the Hokage, "I believe... the optimal course of action is to purge the entire clan."

Stunned silence.

"What the hell, Itachi-kun?! That's two miles of crazy on a ten foot track!" Shisui burst out.

Itachi simply pointed at Danzo's scroll, "Shimura-san knows." Danzo dipped his head slowly.

"The boy is correct. Historically speaking, the Uchiha clan is tightly knit, and boasts a high shinobi-to-civilian ratio, even in peacetime. What he's related of his clan's council meeting merely underlines the unanimity amongst those who lead. With this in mind, we cannot be sure how deep the roots of the conspiracy will go, not to mention passive sympathy amongst non-combatant clan members," Danzo huffed. "If there was something I learned from Tobirama-sensei, it was this: if there are survivors, one day, someone will surely return to seek revenge."

Sarutobi raised a hand before Shisui could explode again. "This is only one option, Shisui. Calm yourself. Despite whatever effectiveness this proposal could garner, I cannot find it in myself to give immediate approval for the indiscriminate slaughter of an entire clan."

"Don't be a fool, Hiruzen," Danzo countered. "Taking action after the Uchiha do will lead to unacceptable collateral damage, most notably amongst the village civilian populace. We've only just regained our pre-war strength... the ensuing weakened state of _civil_ war will invite enemy nations to take advantage of that fact, those perpetual idiots in Iwa and Kumo as a case in point."

A heavy silence descended again.

"I've got it!" Shisui slapped a fist on an open palm. "I, uh, believe I've got a third option for you, Hokage-sama," he said excitedly as the other three men turned to stare at him.

"You may or may not recall, Hokage-sama... a few years ago I was performing unauthorized searches over at Archives for... personal... stuff... Anyway, my punishment sentencing was 'enforced' training scheduled with jounin Maito Gai. I seriously thought I was going to die," Shisui paused to frown at his younger cousin's smirking. "I... I've chosen to play this close to my chest, but two and a half days in, I reached my limit and collapsed. The stress and exhaustion awakened a new level of my Sharingan. I've never seen or heard of it before, but I've told only Itachi. None of the clan elders know, and I hope to keep it that way."

Danzo leaned forward. "What does this mean in relation to a 'third' course of action?"

"When I had the opportunity, I did a little testing," Shisui began hesitantly. "This new Sharingan allows me to... suggest... things to targets."

"Please clarify," Sarutobi asked curiously. 'Professor', indeed.

"Well... the bit of testing I managed allowed me to plant discrete ideas or even false experiences into the victim's mind, forcing them to conform to the implanted behaviour I chose. The real strength of the genjutsu is, the victim is unaware of the changeas being foreign, and enacts my orders as if out of free will. One of my experimental targets was ordered to go to the market every Thursday and buy, and immediately, consume raw, a single winter melon. He's a chuunin instructor at the Academy and doesn't leave the village often, so as far as I've seen, he hasn't missed a single Thursday in two years."

Danzo rubbed his chin in though. "What limitations have you discovered?"

"It takes a few seconds, minimum, to perform, and consumes a ridiculous amount of chakra, no matter the perameters of the implanted command. It leaves a significant window of vulnerability, especially immediately following usage of the jutsu. The more foreign the command is to the victim's natural decision making seems to negatively affect how frequently I can use the jutsu, though."

"So," continued Danzo, "you are proposing that you use this new genjutsu of yours to forcibly alter the decisions of your clan elders to avert this coup."

"Exactly," Shisui said, eager.

The Hokage eyed Danzo, then Shisui. "How soon can this be done?"

Shisui shrugged. "As soon as you give the order, Hokage-sama."

"What a fearsome ability," Sarutobi said, drumming his fingers on his chair's arms. "Meddling with a person's free will does not sit well with me."

"If I may, Hokage-sama," Itachi shifted in his seat. "Our clansmen forfeit all rights the moment they willingly chose their false sense of superiority over the well-being of the village... the village we have all vowed to serve with our lives."

Sarutobi continued drumming his fingers amidst the silence of the other men, until seemingly coming to a decision. His fingers clenched in a fist, then relaxed as he laid his hands palm down on his desk.

"Shisui-san. It is good you came to me with this information, difficult as it is. The Will of Fire burns strong in you... I hereby assing you an unranked mission to do this thing. Use your genjutsu to... convince... your clan council of a different path of action. But this day forward, I declare this technique of yours an S-rank kinjutsu. You are not to use it again without my order, and knowledge of this jutsu is not to leave this office. Am I understood?"

"By your will, Hokage-sama," Shisui and Itachi stood and saluted.

"Good. Dismissed."

Just as Shisui's hand grasped the door handle, Sarutobi called out to him.

"Shisui, Itachi."

"... Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"Jounin Uchiha Shisui, for breaking your oath to refrain from further unauthorized entry into the ANBU Archives, you are hereby sentenced to resume supervised training with fellow jounin Maito Gai, starting tomorrow. Report to Training Ground 57 at 0400 hours. The supervised training will continue until such time as I deem you properly punished."

Shisui went paper-white, head hung low. "By your will, Hokage-sama."

Itachi smirked.

"Jounin Uchiha Itachi," called out Sarutobi, "for your complicity and failure to report his transgressions, coupled with the unauthorized duplication and transmission of classified documentation, you are sentenced to join him."

The Uchiha boy's stomach dropped not unlike a greased Akimichi down a steep cliff.

"Remember, young men, choice in training attire is _not_ optional." Both Uchiha quavered ever so slightly.

"... By your will, Hokage-sama."

They finally departed, and Sarutobi looked out again over the village as the doors closed behind them.

"... It's never simply getting our hands dirty," he muttered.

"Sometimes one must dive right into the muck, Hiruzen," Danzo said as he carefully rolled up his scroll. "The safety of the village must come first."

Sarutobi's cheeks bulged out slightly, before expelling the smoke slowly through his teeth.

"Speaking of things that must come first, Danzo," he asked absentmindedly. "When are you going to fix that ugly mug you call a face?"

Danzo shrugged. "Cosmetic treatment is costly, is of arguable success rates, and requires multiple sessions, especially for facial alteration. Though my injury is extensive, I've never looked into it, as it's only skin-deep."

Sarutobi smirked back at the notoriously tightfisted man. "I'll see about asking Tsunade for a consultation and treatment. If she won't do it for free... well, you're a persuasive man, when you want to be."

"I would... appreciate that, Hiruzen," Danzo fingered his bandages contemplatively.

A shout rang out from somewhere nearby in the village, muffled through the windows.

 **" _NARUUUUTOOOOOOOO!_ "**

The Hokage looked to Danzo, who gestured towards the office phone in query. Receiving a languid nod in return, the crippled man picked up the receiver and dialed the direct line to ANBU headquarters.

"Hello. Yes... Shimura Danzo... Yes. Who is on Monument duty this evening?... Currently engaged with Subject Orange, yes."

Sarutobi watched Danzo carefully.

"... Ah, jounin Uzuki Yuugao and ANBU Patrol 9. Well, then. I'll place three hundred on Uzuki-san," Danzo's lone eye glanced back to Sarutobi, who held up four fingers.

"... And four hundred on Naruto for Hokage-sama. That will be all," Danzo hung up the phone with a clack.

Sarutobi had pulled out his crystal ball, and the two of them stared at the Hokage Monument through it. It had all been painted to resemble their real life counterparts.

Sarutobi's face crinkled with a smile as the crystal ball's view followed the blond blur speeding across the rooftops below, flinging paint left and right with the antagonized ANBU close on his heels.

* * *

"Silence!"

The shouting men reached a crescendo.

Fugaku drew in a breath. **" _I_ _SAID, BE SILENT!_ "**

The Uchiha clan council filling the dim room hushed at once, turning their undivided attention to their clan head.

"As I was saying, our swift preparations are nearly complete. We are already on the cusp of removing the hat from that old fool-" Fugaku was interrupted by having to roll foward, a flurry of shuriken following in his wake. Coming out from the roll in the center of the chamber, he angrily faced the direction the attack originated from, but saw nothing. The other council members formed a tight ring around Fugaku, all with Sharingan ablaze.

"Who dares trespass against the Uchiha?!" Fugaku's voice rang out low in challenge.

A few councilmen hissed as Itachi stepped out from behind a partially open shoji.

"Apologies, otousan... but I'm afraid I cannot allow you to continue traveling the path you have chosen." There was little that was apologetic about the young Uchiha's bored tone, much less his 'I'm-waiting-for-this summer-downpour-to-stop-so-I-can-hit-the-cornerstore-for-an-ice-cream-bar' posture.

Fugaku's eyes hardened into flint, "I see my son has decided to show his true colors. What a disappointment."

Itachi shook his head slightly. "No, otousan. It is you, who is the disappointment, stewing in your plans of treason against our own village."

"You're a child, Itachi, a foolish child," Fugaku spat. "No matter how talented you believe yourself, you cannot stop the clan. You've wasted your only chance to strike at me, just for a bit of juvenile posturing."

"... This is no posturing, otousan. Your arrogance blinds you; blinds all of you. And that is why you have already lost." Itachi's hand snapped out, neatly toppling the room dividing shoji to the floor.

And from the darkness it revealed, the burning red of the Mangekyou Sharingan of Uchiha Shisui stared right back at the unpleasantly surprised Uchiha elders.

 **"... _Kotoamatsukami!_ "**

As all of the Uchiha councilmen had been looking directly into Shisui's eyes, all off their faces bled out their anger, confusion, and surprise. They all stood relaxed, slack-jawed, as the doujutsu took hold, eyes slightly glazed and unblinking in anticipation of a command.

Shishui took a deep breath. "From this day forward, to the end of days, the Uchiha clan will serve the needs of the village."

The men nodded blankly in unison, some with neck wattles wobbling.

Itachi frowned, elbowing his cousin furiously. "They already think that by serving their own selfish needs, they are serving the village. You must be more specific, cousin... don't you remember that first experiment?"

"Ah, shit..." Shisui whispered back. "Uh... well... the uh, needs of the village must come before the needs of the Uchiha clan. The clan is only part of the whole and it should act like it!"

The Uchiha bobble heads bobbled again.

"Whatcha guys doing?" A tiny head of unruly blond hair over a wide-eyed face popped up from behind a ficus planter jammed in a corner. The two ANBU stared at the seven year old boy.

"Uh... we... are playing a game. The Uchiha Clan wishing game!" Shisui blurted out the first lie to cross his mind.

 _Utter bullshit. There's no way he's dumb enough to believe that!_ Shisui and Itachi thought, sharing a nervous glance.

"Too cool!"

 _He believed it!_

Shisui gaped at Itachi, who merely began a discreet, but heavy sweat.

"I wish all the old farts here would stop being so stinky-faced and play with me sometimes!"

The old farts nodded, any remants of said stink faces evaporated into the night.

"Gotcha!" An ANBU in a dog mask had appeared in a whirl of shunshin and armlocked the blond boy.

"Oi! Lemme go! I didn't do nothing wrong! I'm innocent of these crimes! I only wanted to shop!" The boy struggled hard, feet flailing in impotence.

"I'm not here for that," the Dog masked ANBU hissed.

"Oh." The boy stilled.

"But Hokage-sama _does_ want to see you, Naruto!"

"Aww, but we're playing the wishing game! It's super cool, " he whined.

Dog straightened, taking in his surroundings for the first time. Itachi and Shisui, stock-still, stared back at Dog and Naruto, while a group of blank faced Uchiha elders stared at Shisui like a golden calf.

"Uh... wow. Bad timing much?" Dog laughed weakly.

Naruto pulled on Dog's armoured vest. "Come ooonnnnnn, Dog-san! I made a wish, so it's your turn! If you play too, I'll go with you to see Jiji right away."

"Deal," Dog dropped Naruto. "And that's 'Hokage-sama' to you!" he barked, as he knifehand chopped the boy's head. He sighed as the blond brat only stuck his tongue out back at him.

The lanky ANBU's head tilted a moment, in thought.

"I wish you Uchiha weren't total dicks to me all the time, and that you'd get right on honoring Obito's memory."

The dicks nodded their wobbly heads again.

"Ooohhhh! I'm tellin' Jiji you said a bad wooooooord!" Naruto crooned. "And who's Obito?"

"None of your business, that's who. Let's split, brat," He made a grab for the young jinchuuriki. Said jinchuuriki dodge the grasping hands, ducked underneath the follow-up lunge, and rammed a punch straight into the grey-haired ANBU's precious man-land. Dog doubled over, breath stuttering.

"Nyaaa! Only if you can catch me! I'll take you for a _walk_ , Dog-san! Uzumaki NA-RU-TO! HASSHIN SURUUU!" The boy rocketed out a random sliding door, and the cursing ANBU limped out after him.

Shisui and Itachi looked dazedly to each once more, then back to the gathered council.

Time to wrap this up.

The shoji behind Shisui slid open, and Uchiha Mikoto wandered in casually with Sasuke clinging to her kimono.

 _Oh shit ohshitoshitoooohhhhhsheeyiiiiiiiiiiit..._

"Uchiha Fugaku!" Mikoto bellowed.

Her husband's head turned languidly toward her.

"I want a daughter. A cute one!" Fugaku's head bobbed dumbly.

He need to give his wife a daughter.

A cute one.

Mikoto winked a dark eye at her eldest son and his cousin before jauntily turning heel and exiting the room.

Sasuke lurched over to his father, hanging all his weight off the man's sleeves.

"Touchan, teach me some cool jutsuuuuuu! Please, touchan!" Fugaku's head dropped to look down at the pleading face of his younger son, and bobbed his head as much as a man a with his chin to his chest can.

"Yaayy! Cool jutsu! Touchan is the best!" the little boy cheered, and pelted out of the room after his mother.

Shisui shrugged, arms out in a who-knows gesture. "...Did... did all that seriously just happen?"

Itachi only buried his face into his hands.

"... Shisui? Itachi? What are you two doing here? And why is the clan banner ruined!?" a dazed Fugaku barked, voice rising in confusion.

"Ah, well... you see..." Shisui began, seeing that the elder bobbleheads were regaining higher cognitive function.

Itachi cut in smoothly. "One of the Inuzuka breeder dogs came down with distemper and got loose. We were tasked to capture it, but its path of destruction led through the clan hall. We have recovered from it's attack and are about to resume pursuit."

"Oh," Fugaku said hazily. "Okay... well, let those Inuzuka know we can help walk their dogs or whathaveyou if they're a bit shorthanded. We've a few extra hands at the moment."

The two young Uchiha shifted cagily.

"As you say, Fugaku-sama. We will relay your message after the completion of our... mission." The two all but bolted from the clan hall.

"So!" Fugaku clapped his hands. "Where were we? Oh yes! The Kyuubi Festival is just around the corner, and I happened upon a fantastic idea for our clan's parade float. If we start gathering the materials now, we'll make it just in time..."

* * *

The silver-and-gold bundle that crashed through the Hokage's office window landed with a hard thump into the guest chair directly opposite the seated Sandaime Hokage. Dog body flickered into the office just as the bundle proved itself to be a screeching Naruto, trussed up in ninja wire like a caterpillar in a silk cocoon. Dog's firm, black gloved grasp on Naruto's shoulders was preventing any further escape.

"Why, good morning, Naruto," Sarutobi looked up from his paperwork, fighting the twitch at the corners of his mouth.

"... Morning, Jiji. So, uh... I heard you wanted to see me?"

Naruto carefully wriggled a hand backwards.

"Indeed, Naruto. I wanted to see how you are doing. With that said, how _are_ you doing?"

"Well, Jiji... pretty good, I'd say. How about yourself?" the boy replied. He was sawing as quickly and quietly as possible through the ninja wire, with a kunai pilfered from Dog.

"Very well, my boy, very well indeed. Listen, Naruto, how do you feel about attending the Ninja Academy?"

Uzumaki Naruto ceased his struggling, a cheshire cat's grin pooling across his face.

* * *

Two raven haired figures draped in spandex green trailed behind an overly enthusiastic bowl cut man with an identical outfit in the early morning sunlight just outside of Konoha's defensive walls.

 _-Pant-_ "Shisui-nii?" - _Pant-_

 **"YOUTH!"**

- _Pant-_ "What Itacchan?" - _Pant-_

 **"YOUTH!"**

- _Pant-_ "How come" - _Pant-_ "How come you never asked Miku out with Kotoamatsukami?" - _Pant-_

 **"YOUTH!"**

 **"YOUTH!"**

"FUCK!"

 **"THAT IS MOST UNYOUTHFUL MY FRIENDS! WE MUST GET RID OF THIS UNYOUTHFULNESS BY DOING 100 MORE YOUTHFUL LAPS!"**

The two Uchihas whimpered.

* * *

A/N: I am aware of how the kotoamatsukami works in the anime, so please don't email me about this. Please review. :P

Editor's Note: I'm also aware of canon Kotoamatsukami (where we are only shown single target/single command functionality). But before you let your panties get in a twist, be sure to simply rest easy and enjoy the story knowing that the author has disallowed me to insert any sort of Super Pervert Boy Boy Yaoi Gangbang Exploding Youth no Jutsu. Yeowza.


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